Three Folded Mirror
by Sumwon
Summary: [!WARNING! Contains non-consensual content!] The year of war against the titans are over and things have generally settled down. A celebration ensues, but some people get can't seem to handle themselves. Levi - Eren - Erwin [Leaning towards Levi!]
1. Chapter 1

_Hello everyone! I had the chance to go through my work over the last few weeks and have changed quite a few things content and wording wise. But do not worry! I have posted the edited chapters on and am in the process of posting them here on as well. _

_Of course, if you're more comfortable with ArchiveOfOwn's layout or simply already have an account there, look out for me!_

_~Sum-Won~_

**Chapter 1**

Everyone was far from joyous after war had rippled humanity. No one could say what it was that they felt, but for sure-everyone bathed in relief. The Titans once feared were gone—many soldiers gone as well, and soon the walls would follow. As a great wave of tears blinded the citizens that had lived like birds in cages for centuries after the victory, no one could express their gratitude to all of those who had died in the horrific battle having ensued a month before. Everything had finally settled down. Yet even with only half of their luggage undone, the legion scouts finally unbuckled themselves from their usual strain and began a celebration like there was no tomorrow.

"And then it swung at me and I jumped up and shot out my gear just in time to swoop off its neck!" shouted one of the soldiers at the table—head shaved crisp and jubilant.

"Seriously though, you almost got our gears intertwined-if you hadn't been such an idiot…" trailed off another from across the bench. His choppy light brown hair ruffled about as he frowned at the bald man.

The two continued to exchange word until an elegant raven head approached them with two other individuals trailing behind. Seating themselves down, the trio joined in on the conversation of the duo already seated at the table.

"Yo! Man! Where is everyone?" shouted the bald soldier.

"Shut it, Connie," growled the taller man that had been seated with him. His ears would bleed soon enough from the way the wonderful Buddha boy sung like there was no tomorrow.

"Come on, Jean. It's finally over, right?" interjected one of the three that had just seated themselves. His large blue eyes and bobbed cut bangs gave off a gentle air into the conversation.

However, Jean simply grunted in response. He looked up slowly at the female fighter who had seated herself next to the bob head. Her dark hair silhouetted her face-just enough to create an air of mystery.

"I see that your hair grew longer, Mikasa," Jean complimented the soldier.

The woman turned around at the sound of his voice and smiled faintly, "Thanks."

But just as quickly as she had given him her attention, it swiftly went back to the darker brunette that was occupying the seat next to her.

"Um… Hey, Armin," spoke the brunette.

The bob head looked up, "What is it Eren?"

"Could you pass me a napkin?" grinned the soldier as his messy brown locks swayed slightly. His hands were sticky from the cinnamon buns he had been picking apart. The man's green eyes twinkled from the bright light that hovered over their table.

Mikasa couldn't help but smile at Eren's merry expression as the blonde passed over the requested condiments. It had felt like Armin and the green eyed boy had been through a horrible fairy tale and finally found their happy ending. Of course, she knew that they were far from the "ending" part of the fairy tale.

"So…" Connie poked about his food tilting his head slightly as he continued, "What's up with Corporal Levi? Did he patch things up? What's going to happen to you?"

Eren looked away for a second before answering just as a certain southern girl joined the table, placing a plate of hot steaming potatoes and vegetables on the sturdy wooden surface of the table.

"What's up?" the pony tailed girl grinned, her mouth stuffed with broccoli most definitely from the kitchen as she seated herself.

Everyone knew that right after the battle the court had immediately summoned all of the titan shifters onto their ground and began determining just what they would do with their lovely war weaponry. Most of the towns folks wanted an end to the term "titan" all together, but little did they expect Levi and Erwin to state what they did on that day of judgment.

"I can't transform anymore."

Everyone's eyes grew big—especially Armin's and Mikasa's.

"What?!" shouted Jean, even he had been taken by surprise. Although Eren and the tawny had been on bad terms, the two's mutual hatred for each other had fueled a strong respect that no one could simply pluck at.

Eren looked at everyone with scrunched brows, "It's gone. All of it."

Mikasa spoke softly, "All of it? So… You can't…?"

The dark brunette nodded in response just to reassure his comrades, "I'm just a regular human being now. If I get injured, I'd die like everyone else."

Sasha spoke in between chewing, "What about Ymir, and the others though?"

"Same." Eren stated.

Connie's brows scrunched together as he poked at Sasha's plate of food, "Nyeh… Why is that though? Did Hange do something to you guys?"

Eren frowned, "I highly doubt it, but Corporal Levi and Captain Erwin were able to convince the court that we aren't a major threat as of now so they let us go without any injuries—however…"

Mikasa nodded for him to go on.

"However, we're still on watch and I'll still need to be held in the dungeon for a while."

Mikasa and Armin stayed silent, their face unchanging. Both of them were unsatisfied with the court's final decision. However, they knew that it was useless to fight. Everyone at the table already understood—without Levi and Erwin, the titan shifters would most likely be dead or put into some sort of lab experiment for the sake of further study to preserve "humanity."

"Hey…" Armin suddenly spoke, "Shouldn't you go thank them?"

"Huh?" Eren responded dumbfound.

Connie smirked, "Yeah! They risked their butts for you out there. You should at least give them something back in return."

Eren frowned, eyes brows knitting. Hadn't he given back enough? He had risked his life and all of his friends for the sake of "humanity" hadn't he? But of course, when he thought back to it, his efforts had only been for one person—himself.

He knew that no matter what he could always justify that he did it for Mikasa and Armin-which he did. But deep down, wasn't it himself that wanted to be with them? For sure, the two reciprocated the same feelings, but if Eren hadn't dreamed of the outside world he wouldn't have gotten as far as he did as well.

Well… No matter what, Eren did feel a bit guilty about the way he had been so rash at times as well—almost killing some of his comrades in battle. His hit and miss moments had been plentiful and the two head masters had been there to see him through it all.

As time trailed by the conversation was dropped due to other soldiers coming into the cafeteria. Sasha was already passing the drinks around. Getting ahold of a jug of beer, Eren remembered when he was fifteen. Everything had been basically "illegal" for him—although he had already bypassed some of those "illegal" doings seeing as he did kill a man or two at a rather young age. Now he was twenty five and no one was going to stop him from having a little booze with his friends. Taking a sip Eren frowned slightly. The dark brunette didn't necessarily like the taste of beer, but it was nice to take a swift of it once in a while—like how coffee was sometimes preferred black. Bringing his attention back to his friends, the green eyed ex-shifter made small talk with the other soldiers to bypass the time.

As word and food continued to circulate around the table, Eren spotted Corporal Levi and Captain Erwin sitting at another bench occupied with higher matters. Their faces were flawless as they went about conversing with the other captains. Eren knew that his life hung on the two older men. They were what kept him alive and away from the court scoundrels that threatened to end him. Eren turned away from watching them and went back to joking about with his friends.

At some point, the group had lost count of how long they had been at the table. Everyone was starting to get woozy from having too much to drink and eat. Eren knew he had taken down one too many with Jean when the two went head on in a drinking contest. Mikasa had warned Eren before she had left to tend to a scuffle outside of the cafeteria that she didn't want him bed ridden the following day. And although Armin had tried to reassure that he would watch out for his thick headed friend, Mikasa wasn't convinced as she left the room. It was just as Mikasa had predicted… Eren was in between the state of feeling faint and completely wasted. Connie—though short in stature somehow managed to survive through the entire drinking rally and pulled Jean away from the table. The choppy haired man could barely stand as he teetered in the bald soldier's arms. At his limit, Sasha suggested that he be taken to his room to retire for the night. Connie agreed and the two left the place abandoning Armin, Sasha, and Eren to clear up the messy table. Just as Armin was finishing up wiping away at the wooden planks, Eren wobbled over to him after putting away the dishes.

"Heeey… You going to take a shower later?"

Armin didn't look up just as he completed a final swipe on the table, "Yeah but you can go ahead. I'm still thinking about checking up on the library- Hange was telling me about something earlier in the kitchen."

"Okay then," sang Eren completely oblivious to the other diners.

He was slightly nauseous, but he knew he would be alright. Unlike Jean, he hadn't completely drunk to his limit yet— only enough to lose his sense of balance to some degree.

Just as Eren passed the door frame into the hallway, he was reminded of Captain Erwin and Corporal Levi. He was supposed to thank them. Checking the time, Eren saw that it wasn't actually as late as he had thought. Perhaps the two were still awake doing paper work or something. The dark brunette didn't want to see the captain and corporal in the state he was in, but he also didn't want to return to his dinky dungeon so soon. His sleeping quarter was small and the light was always too dim for him to move about comfortably. Not only that, but he hated the feel of the heavy cold chains on his wrists at night. It made him feel like he was really a monster that didn't deserve freedom.

Well… Either he took a shower now and flew straight to bed seeing as the shower was right above his sleeping quarter or he could go thank his higher ups before going to bathe and sleep. The option of bathing first wasn't possible, Eren contemplated. He seriously was too lazy to clean himself up, come back to thank the Corporal and Captain and then go to bed. And besides… It would be quite late by then anyway. Heaving a sigh, the twenty five year old male did his best to prolong his travel so that he may postpone his arrival to bed as he headed towards the Captain and Corporal's quarters. Just as Eren took a step up the stairs which lead to the Corporal's office, Annie passed by at that same exact moment bumping into him.

"Hey Eren," she greeted with a curt nod.

Eren waved at her just as the blonde continued to speak, "Hange wanted to see you tomorrow at lunch time. Says she's got some plans for everyone."

Everyone— which meant the ex-titan shifters.

"Oh…," the green eyed man knew that Hange had been in deep despair the moment she discovered that the titan shifters were no longer able to change to man eating monsters. She had begun digging into reasons why.

"Training ground then?" Eren quirked an eyebrow, trying to hide the fact that he was a bit too drunk to hold himself steady.

"Yeah," spoke the blonde, completely aware of how wasted the man was.

"Okay, I'll be there then," Eren said reassuringly as he could.

Hopefully his speech wasn't slurring too much.

Annie smiled as a response—slightly leaning towards a smirk and continued to walk on pass, joining in with other soldiers of different ranking at the end of the hall.

Eren took his time walking up the creaking stairs that lead to the offices of the other captains. He passed by Corporal Levi's room and knocked a few times, but it seemed that either no one was in or Levi was ignoring him. Eren looked down at the floor, eyeing the crack of the door to see if there was any light just to make sure that his corporal wasn't pulling his leg. Disappointed to see that there was no bright ray shining down onto the wooden planks, Eren moved on to Erwin's office.

Incidentally, Erwin's office was separated rather far from the rest of the higher ranked soldier's rooms. Perhaps it was because Captain Erwin dealt with much more serious and complicated matters that required additional privacy. Eren continued to climb the set of stairs until he finally made it to the top where his feet met the entrance to a short passage way. Heaving himself up, the dark brunette pulled himself together. He was going to thank Captain Erwin and perhaps Corporal Levi if he was also there and then retire for the night. The green eyed soldier had gained his composure to some degree from the exercise up the stairs. Although still under influence, Eren hoped to himself that he didn't look like too much of an utter fool seeing as he had just left dinner. The brunette could see that the entrance to Erwin's office was open slightly ajar. If the two weren't in there, someone had to be. Eren approached the door. Reaching out an arm, the man allowed for his knuckles to lightly knock on the mahogany surface of the office's entrance.

There was no answer.

Eren reached for the handle of the door and pushed it open. Perhaps his knock wasn't loud enough? As Eren looked around he could make out the shape of a rather large desk in the middle of the room. A small lamp dimly lit was placed at the right corner of the wooden structure. The light weakly uncovered the form of a twin sized bed at the junction of the chamber. Looking around, Eren took in the fact that the space was rather large— at least compared to the teeny lodgings that were given to the soldiers to sleep in. Realizing that he was gawking about in Erwin's office he regained his self-control.

Erwin was in his office alright…

He had his head on his desk, shoulders slumped- most likely asleep. Well, guess he would have to wait till tomorrow then. Eren was about to turn around and exit when his foot stepped on one of the floor boards which gave a loud—CREAAK!

Erwin stirred.

"Oh," the captain stated in surprise, "I… expected you. Close the door and sit down."

What? Eren slowly turned around like a criminal caught in a badly played out act. He had expected him? The brunette didn't question the captain and did as he was told like any obedient soldier would. Pushing the door firmly shut, he took a few steps toward the older man.

"Sir, I—" but Eren was unable to finish his sentence as he realized how pale Erwin looked. His eyes were vacant and his hands were nervously tapping at the corner of the desk in which he was seated.

"Um… Sir? Are you alright?" The brunette took a few more steps towards him, "You look a bit… pale."

"Ah… Right." Erwin sighed heavily.

Suddenly the captain stood up—a bit too haste, which made the legs of the wooden chair scrape the floor discharging a rather unpleasant sound. Yet, when he finally stood up, Erwin walked rather slowly around the desk in order to meet with the younger subordinate. The captain seemed rather on edge. As Eren watched Erwin's approach, the brunette began to think of how to spell out his thank you to the older man.

When the captain was a good pace from where Eren stood, the brunette braced himself. Eren gave a stern salute and spoke firmly, "I want to thank you and Corporal Levi for all you both have done for me! I know I've caused a lot of trouble, but I'm very grateful to you both for keeping me alive up until now."

Erwin paused for a moment, lingering in front of Eren for a few seconds. Then he smiled—perhaps a smile that Eren was not prepared for.

It was as if Erwin hadn't heard his words at all.

Eren's form began to become small and he slightly slouched staring at the ground. Perhaps he had said something wrong? Or maybe Erwin didn't like being thanked so boldly? The soldier's hands were clenched at his sides as he waited for the Captain to respond with words, but all he could hear was his own heartbeat drumming against his ears. Embarrassed and unable to stand the tension, Eren looked up just in time to see that Erwin was merely a finger's length away from him. Eren never realized how easily Erwin towered over the twenty five year old. Suddenly confronted, the brunette began to panic.

Taking a few steps back from the sudden closeness, the green eyed solder wavered, "C-captain Erwin?"

The brunette was completely clueless to why his captain was being so unresponsive. Eren felt as if the older man was trying to trap him into a corner. Afraid that perhaps the court had finally asked Erwin to rid the world of ex-titan shifters, Eren began to fasten his backward pace. Why else would have the older man expected him? Unfortunately for the soldier, he forgot that they were in a room and not situated in an open outside environment. Within a few steps, Eren caught himself stuck against a wall and the blonde older man. Eren's veins were throbbing at his neck and he was ready to take flight, but somewhere in the back of his head a small voice reminded him that Erwin was "on his side."

Just as Corporal Levi was…

Erwin came closer to Eren, but seemingly didn't pull out a knife or anything to Eren's relief. Instead both of Erwin's hands came down onto Eren's shoulder and slowly trailed down to the brunette's elbows. The intimate gesture made Eren flinch. Perhaps his words had touched the captain's heart? However, Eren's thoughts were cut off when the older man's larger hands came down to the brunette's wrist. Suddenly the ex-titan shifter felt smaller than a fly under the older man's gaze. Was this Erwin's way of thanking him? The endless questions bubbled out of the younger man's brain. Eren was so confused and all he could do in order to hide it was stare down at his feet.

"C-captain?" Eren squeaked out as he continued to stare at the fact that Erwin's hands were still on both of his wrists.

Erwin didn't answer as his palms began to slowly tighten around the soldier's hands now placed between them. Eren was afraid to break the silence, but knew that the tension was growing far too strong. The stillness felt as if it had stretched out forever and would continue to do so.

Suddenly Eren felt the release of his hands. Relieved that he was now free, the brunette looked up.

Thinking that perhaps the captain was done with his weird act, Eren continued, "Sir, did you hear me earlier?"

However, he was cut short by the older man—who's face came crashing down onto his own.


	2. Chapter 2

_My horrible smut writing will kill your imagination... Beware!_

_~Sum-Won~_

**Chapter 2**

Throughout Eren's twenty five years of life, he had dedicated it to saving humanity. He had dedicated it to his friends, family, and comrades. He had given himself up to his training, to the pain of war and the tears of loss. He had sacrificed every single moment he breathed so that the human race could be where they were now.

But through the brunette's twenty five years, he had completely forgotten about the carnal desires in a human body.

Eren couldn't see straight with Erwin hovering over him. But when Erwin's lips had devoured his own, the subordinate realized from the stench of the captain's breath that Erwin was beyond drunk. The brunette had watched Levi and the older man take a few drinks down, but he had never thought that the captain would go so far as to completely irrationalize his own senses. Perhaps Erwin was a light buzzer and a few jugs could steal his senses away?

Although shameful and hard to admit, it didn't change the fact that the older man was— as of now- assaulting him.

Eren tried to push Erwin away, but his defense was weak from the heavy stimulus the ex-titan shifter had drunk at dinner. The brunette's heart was beating a million per a second as his body was lost between the state was panicking and fighting. Both of Erwin's hands were on the subordinate's face, firmly holding Eren's jaw in place as he continued to press his lips against the soldier. The ex-titan shifter had never felt so weak before and found himself losing to the captain's grip on his head.

Eren attempted to put some distance between him and the older man so that he could at least call Erwin back to his senses. But the moment Eren found a place to open his mouth to speak, Erwin stole his breath away with another kiss—this time utilizing the entrance the younger man had given him. Erwin grazed the soldier's gums with his tongue and prodded the inexperienced man's mouth languidly as he sucked on the insides of the brunette's lips. The twenty five year old had never been kissed so deeply before and it left him blushing red all the way to his ears. He could barely catch his breath as Erwin continued to delve deeper into his aperture, the captain's hands now desperately pulling at the brown locks that encircled Eren's head.

The soldier was torn between hurting Erwin and simply letting the older man do what he wanted. However, Eren's pride was unyielding and he wasn't going to lower it for the captain. With the little strength he had left, the green eyed soldier pulled a wobbly punch at Erwin. Unfortunately, the captain's body swayed to the side at that exact moment making Eren fall forward from the momentum. Coincidentally, Eren had been able to break away from Erwin's heavy kiss.

But it cost him greatly.

Falling flat onto his stomach, the brunette tried to pull himself up off the floor as quickly as possible from being defenseless. But just as fast as he had attempted his actions, Erwin came tumbling right on top of him. Breathing harshly, the titan shifter tried to scramble out from beneath the captain, but the older blonde's hold on the soldier's waist was firm and fixated.

"C-captain! Please! Get ahold of yourself!" shouted the younger man as he struggled to escape.

Erwin didn't hear him— either that or Eren had been ignored.

Instead, the older man continued to place kisses on the back of the titan shifter's neck down to his shoulder blades as he pulled down Eren's green button up shirt from behind exposing tanned and trained flesh. The brunette could hear the cloth on his shoulder being ripped away as his buttons popped off under his chest.

'Oh my god,' thought Eren.

He wasn't going to be able to escape at this rate. He had traveled what? Three flights of stairs? And walked down a passage way to get to Erwin's office… Even if the younger man screamed like a banshee, no one would be able to hear him; especially since the soldier's quarters were on the other side of the building. And with the majority of the soldiers drinking away in the kitchen, the ruckus would most likely mute out any sound that he made. For once, Eren didn't think about the consequences that would come after his actions. There was only one option- fight his way through.

Eren shoved his chest from off the ground and tried to pull himself up. Even with the captain clinging onto him, the soldier did his best at an attempt to lunge for the door. Bitterly the titan shifter only achieved to flip himself around onto his back flinging about in the tight embrace of his captain. Eren came face to face with Erwin, now getting a good look at the older man on top of him. The captain's shirt was wide open and slightly shifted to one shoulder—most likely an attempt to be taken off. His shoulders curved well down with his biceps sloping into a charming arch. Even his chest was firmly built surprisingly; seeing as Eren thought Erwin's body would be worn out with constant office work. The captain was smiling teasingly, his face pallid. The older man almost looked handsome under the faint glow of the lantern; his hair slightly a mess from their struggle. However his blue eyes never wavered— even with them glazed over.

From all the years that he had served under Erwin, the brunette had never seen the older man let loose of his business etiquette. The captain had always been so uptight and professional. It was hard to imagine that he could act any other way, but tonight the titan shifter had caught a glimpse of Erwin's playful streak.

"S-sir! If you don't stop this I might have to kick you in the a-"

However, the concentration on Eren's words were lost as Erwin ripped open his shirt from the front, breaking loose the last few buttons that held the cloth together at his waistline. With the brunette's stomach exposed to the stuffy air in the room, the blonde breathed heavily as his tongue came down onto Eren's firm abdomen, tasting every crease of his skin. Eren gasped at the sudden action and tried to pull away, his face beet red.

"P-please… Irvin!" Eren begged—all confidence in bringing the man back lost, "You're freak'n drunk! You seriously don't want this! It's just the booze getting to you!"

And not too long ago Mikasa had warned him about his own self.

Eren thought perhaps he had knocked some sense into the older man when Irvin paused for a second allowing for the two to catch their breath. However, the soldier realized that the captain was merely concentrating on his hands which were roaming down to the borderline of the ex-titan shifter's belt line.

'Dear lord, I am literally screwed…' thought Eren.

Erwin didn't pull down the soldier's pants, instead he shoved his hand right under the rough material making direct contact with Eren's untouched member. The brunette writhed under him and tried to pull the captain's hand out of his khakis as his face turned to a tomato. Eren heard his belt snap from their struggle which lead to his khakis coming loose. Distracted the brunette suddenly felt a sudden force flip him back onto his stomach bruising his knees slightly from impact against the hard flooring. Eren's shirt was half off-barely hanging at his elbows and his pants was dragging by the feet. This was the one time Eren wished that someone- anyone- would come in through the door and save his ass. He didn't care if his pride as a man was completely screwed to whatever audience this event would travel to, because either way if Erwin got his way his pride would be cut short of life anyway.

Without warning, Erwin's right hand firmly gripped onto the brunette's cock, causing for Eren to tremble under the blonde as the roughness of the contact slowly caused for his member to harden. The subordinate had been so busy with war and humanity that he had yet to venture down there himself.

Desperate more than ever, the brunette shoved himself up against the older man allowing for himself to come to a kneeling position, the hardness of the wood rubbing against his exposed body. With palms flat on the flooring, Eren tried to bolt for the door. However his attempt turned into a troubling crawl with the way his pants was holding his ankles together. Erwin—still with a pretty good grip on the brunette—squeezed the soldier's throbbing cock in his grip which led to Eren letting out a harsh gasp.

"God… Darn it…" breathed the younger man.

Erwin took this chance to tower over Eren again and began to suck roughly at the ex-shifter's ear lobe from behind, his left hand roaming up the younger man's abs towards his chest in a manner that was much too lewd for the soldier to discribe. Eren could feel his breathing coming out harsher as the captain began teasing the tip of his cock, pulling at the foreskin just enough to create goose bumps on the younger man's body. Eren began shuddering under the blonde as his pants turned to gasps. Just when the brunette thought he was near his limit, Erwin pulled away from teasing the subordinate and began to pump at the soldier's cock with the cradle of his hand, his own more experienced member tightening from the act. The ex-shifter shook violently under Erwin as his knees began to turn to limp noodles.

There was no way Eren could fight anymore.

As the older man propelled the brunette's hard and leaking cock, his left hand that had been groping Eren's chest was pulled back behind the brunette and came to pull down the twenty five year old's boxers exposing Eren's round cheeks. Erwin's fingers teased the opening of Eren's entrance, prodding about the flesh that had never been set loose. The younger man gasped at the sudden contact to his ass and flinched in hopes of escape as his member continued to throb achingly. However, his efforts were futile seeing as he could no longer hold back the sheer lust that was emanating from his own body. The blonde's jaw was situated right behind Eren's right ear buried in the crook of Eren's neck. The brunette could feel his captain's hardness rubbing against his bottom cheek and it didn't help it that Erwin was beginning to grind against him as well. With their positions, the brunette had first class seats to hearing his captain moaning softly from behind.

Erwin's index finger slowly pushed into the soldier's entrance, making the subordinate yelp. The ex-titan shifter had spoken with Armin about human reproduction, and had learned well from Mikasa about the painful cycles of a woman's body, but he had never set foot into the territory of men making love to men. This was an area that the red light district probably knew more about—

Heck?! Could guys even reproduce by themselves?

Eren was too frail to fight though. Both of them were drunk to some degree. And apparently for the soldier, being drunk meant he was going to be feeble in defense. Perhaps if Erwin wasn't under influence and was still doing the same thing, the brunette wouldn't even be able to fight back as much as he had. The captain nudged his index finger deeper into the brunette twisting his digit right into the walls of Eren's sensitive and soaking anus. The ex-shifter winced.

It felt uncomfortable.

"C-captain… Please, d-don't…" Eren pleaded between pants, his eyes watering slightly.

Although Eren was at his limit, Erwin's kisses didn't dissipate away as the soldier hoped. Instead with each minute, the captain merely sucked harder on the younger man's flesh—down Eren's jawline to his shoulder and back up again, his fingers drumming inside the brunette faster and faster. The older man turned the ex-shifter around with ease so that his back was flat on the floor as he grinded against Eren feverishly.

Erwin wasn't looking at the brunette. Instead his eyes were closed with eyebrows scrunched in concentration of the absolute pleasure that was running through him from the act. It didn't matter though, because the younger man beneath him could barely see through the tears streaking down his own face. All Eren could do in order to make sure that he was aware of the fact that he was still in reality was cling onto the hopeless wooden planks that were barely tangible beneath them. The room filled with the gasping of the two men as Irvin continued to assault the brunette completely lost in ecstasy. The squelching echo of soaked skin running over and overlapping resounded and bounced against the wall the two men's leaking fluids dampened the chamber floor.

As the seconds passed, Eren's pants became desperate moans, pleads, incoherent sounds. Unable to control himself, Eren let out a high pitched whistle from the back of his throat as his hip hung in midair. Without even knowing what was occurring, the brunette released all over himself and his captain. Following not far behind, with each lust filled kiss in unison of his thrusts suddenly Erwin came to an abrupt halt. The blonde's arms which had been holding the younger man down instead instantaneously cradled the soldier tightly. The captain's lips quivered as his eye brows squeezed together trembling with his body. Eren felt Erwin's temperature rise just slightly as a warm fluid suddenly wet the bottom side of his tender thighs. The younger soldier had barely realized what had happened when Erwin crumpled down on top of him without warning, heartbeat deafening his ears.

It seems Erwin had released himself without any further intrusion into Eren's entrance. The soldier could barely call it relief when he let out a tired and trembling sigh. Eren's body quivered from the intensity of the captain's actions, his mind swimming with thoughts that were now weakly trying to light up the brunette's limp body. The captain's breathing eventually slowed down along with the brunette's own as the blonde's fingers slipped out from the Eren's entrance. Their forms heaved on top of each other slightly as they lay soaked in their juices.

Eren tried to pull himself out from under Erwin with a feeble push, but found that he was too tired and weak. From the booze, to the work out up the stairs, to reaching climax with Erwin Eren couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. And within seconds, he too followed Erwin into a deep sleep.

Erwin awoke slowly, his senses groggy from the night before. What time was it? He had remembered that Levi had warned him not to take down too many shots with the other captains before heading back to his office. Somehow he had managed to travel up the stairs with no help and make it back to his cold hard wooden desk. The captain remembered shuffling through unfinished paperwork that Levi had handed him before his brain died out. Apparently, the bed felt quite warm and rather soft. He could hear another heartbeat next to his ears surprisingly.

Perhaps Hange had made a new invention where beds could stay warm even in the winter without having to be placed above a stove?

'But beds don't have heartbeats…' thought the captain.

Heartbeats...

Heartbeat?

Erwin's eyes shot open as he felt the lax flesh beneath him. He could hear another pair of lungs breathing softly in and out slowly as he pulled himself up. To his horror, he was laying on top of another individual- most likely a soldier of his from the tattered uniform!

And male too seeing as the person was completely naked!

The captain stood up abruptly making the man beneath him stir slightly. Erwin didn't have anything covering him from above the waist and his pants were unzipped and wide open with his goods hanging loose. Quickly regaining his composure, the older man pulled his denims up and buckled his belt in place just as the younger soldier at his feet gave out a soft huff in exhale.

Eren's hair had turned to a mess and blocked his face from the captain's view, but as he slowly turned his head away from the floor and up towards the ceiling to get a better situation for the position of his head Erwin realized who it was that had been lying beneath him completely exposed. The captain stepped back slowly from the scene trying to make out what could have possibly happened last night that could lead up to such extraction.

The room was a mess.

Clothes were scattered everywhere on the floor.

The older man stepped back feeling a few loose buttons make it beneath his feet which were most likely from someone's uniform shirt.

Erwin's skin felt sticky and the air smelled of…

Of…?

Erwin couldn't believe it himself. All his life he had lived as a good straight up man who was modest with his business. The captain had earned many's respect and admiration and yet all of it had just been blown away to pieces from a single slip. The older man groaned as he seated himself on the edge of the twin bed that was located in the corner of the room. And to think that he and Eren had gone through the whole night without even using the bed. For heaven's sake, talk about not being resourceful…

The captain surveyed his office and saw that the only place that was in chaos was the center of the floor where the two had been laying. It seems that he must have been so drunk he didn't even think to use the desk as a prop for the act.

There was only one thing left that Erwin had to know.

Had Eren enjoyed whatever it was that had happened last night?

Enjoyed?

Had the subordinate even wanted this?

The captain couldn't imagine the younger soldier leading him on. And he most certainly could not see Eren stripping naked for him willingly either.

Something was amiss, but Erwin had confidence in himself that he couldn't have assaulted the ex-titan shifter, right? But as the older man looked around the room that possibility became more and more plausible bringing dread and guilt to his heart. However, he shoved back the horror that was creeping at his thoughts in order to progress in cleaning up the scene as much as possible for Eren's sake.

As Erwin opened the window to clear out the smell and began collecting his subordinate's clothes that had been strewn everywhere, the Eren awoke. Pulling himself from the hard wooden floor, the soldier gave out a painful groan. His head slightly ached and his back hurt from scraping against the wooden planks of the office. Rubbing at his muddled face with both hands, Eren came to lay eyes on his captain who was now fully dressed.

Then it hit him.

It hit him hard.

Eren's heartbeat quickened and his face began to flush from the rushing memories of last nights' activities. Immediately pulling himself up, the soldier looked around for his belongings only to find that it had already been gathered into a neat pile on top of the captain's desk. Erwin watched the brunette panic about as Eren tried to put on his clothes in order to leave the room as fast as possible.

"Eren," the captain spoke solemnly.

The twenty five year old male froze at the sound of his name as he struggled to cover up his exposed body.

Erwin continued, "I…"

It seemed they both were at lost for words and only the silence could fill in for them. Erwin's hair was no longer split, freshly combed to the side neatly as once seen. His eyes were deeply heavy and his form hovered over his knees as he leaned on his elbows for support from sitting on the edge of the small twin sized bed. The captain's shirt ruffled from the light wind produced through the window.

Of course, Eren couldn't see this though.

He was looking down at the captain's desk which had "Erwin Smith" engraved into the name tag placed next to the dead lamp from last night.

He was afraid...

Unsure of what the older man would say next.

Heaving out a shaking sigh, Erwin placed his face in the slope of his palm and finished

"Just...

What exactly did I do?"


	3. Chapter 3

_A certain French man incoming! I'm sure we've all been looking forward to this._

_~Sum-Won~_

**Chapter 3**

With fast precision, hands moved quickly over the yellow stained papers stacked neatly on the smooth platform desk. Each page stirred with purpose and little effort as the corporal continued to skim through the heavy content on each document having been presented by the court. The single window in the room was closed save the laced curtains that silhouetted the sides of the thin glass frames allowing only the faintest of sun light to pass through.

Levi had woken up earlier than usual since he had made a rather premature exit from the loud celebration from yesterday night. With a huff, the French man placed his completed papers atop of one another and neatly arranged them on the corner of his desk. The corporal's black hair thoroughly combed to the very tips ruffled slightly as he tilted his head to the side to rest his jaw in the cradle of one of his hands. Yesterday before leaving the messy scene that was soon to get messier, he had advised Erwin to not overdo his drinking—seeing as half of the soldiers were probably going to be knocked out the next day with the way they were practically drowning in alcohol. However, the head soldier highly doubted that the blonde captain had heeded his warning since he hadn't heard from the older man since he left the lunchroom yesterday evening.

Luckily, Levi had predicted beforehand that the celebration would be going well into the night so the man had made sure to take a few sleeping pills before heading off to bed. The drugs worked well and the French man knocked himself out even before Hange could pass through the corridors and up to his office to bother him in her drunken stupor.

The man ran his fingers through his hair as he gave out a thoughtful sigh, his beady eyes surveying the room briefly. What time was it? Plucking himself off from his desk, Levi made his way to the door as he took a swift glance at the clock that occupied the coffee table next to his mattress neatly done with the blankets looking as if no one had ever touched them.

"One thirty, eh?" the man mused as he pulled the wooden frame open and made his exit.

The place was rather quieter than usual; most likely due to the fact that perhaps a number of soldiers were sleeping off their night's drinking rations. However as the corporal continued striding down the hallway he was surprised to see that a good handful of soldiers had taken upon themselves to still continue military exercises. He paced out into the field and saw a circle of squad leaders directing their groups to the usual assigned tasks in training. Watching them, Levi felt a surge of pride. Even after the horrid party from last night and the end of the titans, a good amount of soldiers were still keeping sharp, continuing to work towards building their skills and muscles. Satisfied Levi turned around to head back towards the withered old building they called headquarters, but instead of the usual stoic exit he ran right into a certain female eccentric.

"Oh my!" shouted Hange in between stumbles as she took a few steps back from the collision, "Morning Corporal!"

Levi stabled himself from the impact and looked up slightly annoyed by the fact that he hadn't noticed the female creeping behind him before. The man gave out an irritated expression as he greeted the woman, "Good _afternoon_, Hange."

The eccentric grinned eyes crinkling, "God, I didn't even realized that you were there until I turned the corner. Haven't seen you all day!"

Levi sighed, "I saw you yesterday night. It's not like I'm going anywhere soon seeing as the titans are extinct."

That's when the female soldier's eyes brightened ecstatically from the words that fell from the man's mouth, "Oh! LEVI! I just remembered!"

The corporal awaited Hange's details with an expressionless face, "What?"

Suddenly springing from excitement to glum, the eccentric gave out a heaving sigh, "It's Eren… Have you seen him at all? I was looking for him until I ran into you."

French man's beady eyes steadied as he ran through his reel of memories from the day.

He had passed by the infirmary earlier that morning when he awoke, but no one was in—most likely due to the fact that perhaps a number of soldiers had decided to save themselves the trouble of dragging themselves off of bed just to go get some old lady to confirm the fact that they had indeed drank way too much last night. Moving on, the cafeteria had been a mess. However, it had been quiet save the few workers that were in the midst of cleaning up the mess the celebratory soldiers had created. The corporal hadn't gone to Eren's dungeon yet so that may have been a possibility as to where the brunette could be since Eren was known for sleeping like a dead log even in the midst of an earthquake.

The French man was about to answer the female scientist when his vision came into focus from the sound of light footsteps approaching them, "Good after noon Corporal Levi and Hange."

The voice was feminine to some degree but held firm in tone— Levi didn't even have to look up to confirm his thoughts. The two turned around to see Mikasa dressed from head to toe in her uniform as if at any moment a titan might attack them. The woman's working ethic was truly acknowledgeable.

Levi's train of thought was cut short when Hange shouted, "Mikasa! Have you seen Eren by any chance?"

"No, I haven't," the Asian soldier answered, "Is something wrong?"

Hange heaved with an eye roll, "Well-"

"Eren was supposed to meet up with four eyes, but he didn't show up," the corporal intervened quickly.

He wanted to make this quick, seeing as if no one knew where Eren was then the head soldier would have to be the one to go look for him since he and Erwin _were_ responsible for the damn brat. Mikasa's eyebrows scrunched at the completion of the corporal's words—as expected. Muttering under her breath about how she warned a certain idiot, the female squad leader looked up, "Have you guys asked Armin about him? He might know where Eren is—or, have you checked his room?"

Hange bit her upper lip and frowned, "I did, but he wasn't there. The guards reported that they had just switched this morning and that Eren wasn't in when they changed shifts."

Well that helped, thought the corporal. So much for Eren sleeping in.

The raven head's eyes began to harden, "When did they switch?"

"Seven," the corporal answered briskly.

"Boy- do _you _know the schedule, Corporal," Hange teased with a grin as she gave out a worried laugh over the matter of Eren.

Of course he knew the schedule-

Levi sighed in irritation.

—he was the one who made it.

The three were left to their own thoughts as they each contemplated where in the world Eren could be. The corporal concluded that most likely the brat was with his bob headed friend right now playing hooky, seeing as the two weren't spotted on the field. However, the raven head's reboot about Armin helping out with research material seemed to phase the possibility. Mikasa's worried face didn't help the situation and Hange merely scratched her head over the fact that the brunette had definitely known of his appointment with her and the other ex-titan shifters. That was unless Annie was pulling the scientist's leg, but the serious blonde rarely joked around so it seemed unlikely.

Slightly annoyed by the fact that they were getting nowhere, with a quick turn from the two women Levi frowned deeply as he began trudging away, "I'll take responsibility. You guys continue on with whatever it was you two were doing."

"Wait! I'll look for him as well, Corporal!" shouted Mikasa attempting to catch up with the short man.

"No," Levi spoke sternly, "Keep doing what you're doing. Who else could have convinced half of the squad leaders to continue training even under the condition that there were no more titans?"

The raven head's feet stopped abruptly at the statement as she stared at Humanity's Strongest, his back distancing from her with each step he took.

Had the corporal just complimented her?

"Oho!" Hange teased as she tried to hide the smirk blooming on her face with an obviously un-concealing hand, "Look who's learned to flirt now, eh?"

However the eccentric's statement was shoved aside with an annoyed grunt from the corporal.

"Well, if he says he'll do it then he WILL do it," stated Hange matter of factly as she turned to the side to face the raven head, "Don't worry about this, Mikasa. He'll get things worked out and he'll definitely find Eren!"

The Asian soldier nodded affirming that she understood, but even as the raven head turned around and began pacing towards the open field of soldiers moving about she couldn't help but let her face express the anxious feeling bottoming her stomach. Mikasa wasn't worried about whether Levi would find Eren or not—because the raven head was sure that the corporal would no doubt check every crook and cranny to make sure Eren was discovered. Instead, the female warrior was more stressed over just what the older man would do to her adopted brother once he had found the brunette.

Within seconds, Levi was pacing through every hall of headquarters all the while surveying every little click of troupes trudging passed him and beyond. The corporal explored the vast corridors of each hallway in quick procession. Running through a number of possible placed the brunette could be, Levi spotted Armin in the library sorting out books with Connie and Sasha, Jean head to toe in dirty laundry in the washroom, and Historia—otherwise known as Christa, feeding the horses. In the end after poking his head into every little room there was to offer in the building, the corporal ended up running right back into the very place he had started. The damn brat was giving Levi a work out with the way he was hiding so well. Annoyed by the fact that Eren was seriously nowhere to be found, the French soldier decided that it was time to head up to captain Erwin's office to report the missing brat that the two older men were held responsible for.

Levi wasn't in any worried state necessarily since the fool couldn't have possibly been kidnapped seeing as there was no one after EX-titan-shifters. However, the man was on edge that Eren had neglected his promised duties to the female scientist without letting anyone know. Strutting passed his own office, the corporal headed towards the flight of stairs that lead to the captain's chamber. The French soldier made note that he would take care to shower later with the way this new found cardio work out was going.

Progressing at a decent pace, the corporal reached the top of the steps and tread forward into the small hallway that lead to Erwin's office. With a huff, Humanity's Strongest advanced down the small corridor. Luckily, Levi had been smart enough to also bring the completed paperwork that he had finished this morning with him. This way he wouldn't have to make a second trip later on. With eased pacing, the head soldier strode towards the entrance to the blonde captain's office, quickly turning to the side to rest the documents he was holdin in his left arm so he could reach out for the door handle.

Just as Levi's fingertips came in contact with the knob, the metallic sphere flew from his hand and flung away from him. Shocked, the man's quick reflexes made Levi step instinctively back as he was urged to look up. His ears caught the sound of a desperate baritone belonging to Erwin as the sound of heavy footsteps flew towards him. With a tilt of the head, Levi caught sight of Eren a mere two feet from him. The motion was in seconds, but the French soldier caught sight of Eren's posture- head bowed down with a fist clutching the side of his khakis, the other holding onto the front of his button up polo. The younger soldier didn't even look up to acknowledge Levi's presence as he pushed passed Humanity's Strongest and dashed from the room through the hall, descending straight down the stairs without stop.

Levi stood there at the side as his former tired self was now fully awaken by the sudden appearance of the ex-titan shifter. However, the French man quickly recovered as he turned to face Erwin who was neatly dressed with his hair combed back like the usual. Unexpectedly though, the blonde's usual pokerface was creased with worry and was that…

Confusion?

Before Levi could interrogate the situation further though, Erwin re-gained the ability to use his tongue.

"Ah—Levi… I... That is…," the blonde captain started somewhat muddled.

Realizing how unconnected his sentence was, Erwin took a moment to pause and organize his thoughts. Levi stood there with a dead-pain expression awaiting the older man to explain.

"It seems I have disappointed Eren greatly," Erwin finally stated after a few moments of silence.

The answer wasn't satisfying to say the least, but it seemed Erwin wasn't going to continue so the corporal surveyed the man's appearance and the room with his beady eyes in order to make the most of just what had exactly happened. Sweeping from corner to corner with his eyes, all Levi could take note of was that Erwin's office was tidy as usual.

Papers on the desk from work, window open for fresh air, bed neat—just how Levi liked his own.

Nothing seemed amiss.

Not letting the expression on his face change the slightest, Levi concluded that the two grown men had probably had some sort of argument. Strange... The captain and brunette had never conflicted before, thought the corporal. Perhaps it was a rare occasion of sorts that had been unexpected.

The French soldier didn't want to delve deeper into the possible topics that Erwin and Eren could have tugged at seeing as it seemed the situation had nothing to do with pertaining to Levi himself. 'Well,' the French soldier mused. It seems he had found Eren at least. Levi would make sure to take care of that brat later though since he still had business at hand—not to mention it seemed that the brunette needed some time to cool off at the moment. Without further ado, the French man acted as if he had entered the place and never even encountered with Eren.

"Here's the paperwork from the court. I've marked the places that require your signature. Have you looked over the reports I gave you last night?"

Erwin chuckled sadly, "No. I drank too much Levi. I should have listened to you."

The corporal let it slide. He had expected this. Everyone needed a break once in a while and Erwin definitely deserved it seeing as what they had all gone through.

Stretching out the usual frown that he gave the blonde when things didn't go the way he supposedly planned, the corporal continued speaking, "Just make sure to get them in by the end of the month then."

Erwin gave a nod at the statement, although he understood the kind gesture that Levi was making. The blonde really hadn't meant to not look over the reports, but he had been too drunk to even remember how he had managed to get up the stairs to his room. Erwin took the papers from the corporal and walked towards his desk to put them into his already high stacked pile of signature needed work load. Bending down to pull open the small drawer that occupied the desk's upper left corner, the blonde pulled out some configurations of recent data pertaining to population growth that he had received earlier that week from the court. Erwin had postponed giving the charts and graphs to the corporal since he knew that the head soldier was already head deep in other responsibilities. But since Levi had taken the time to complete and hand in the excessive papers from the court, the captain felt like leaving the corporal empty handed would be the same as if Erwin was ignoring Levi's work ethic.

With the exchange of papers, the French soldier decided to make himself comfortable near the exit of the room as he leaned against the door frame in speculation of the information he had just been given. As Levi browsed the graphs and charts that Erwin had just handed him, all he seriously wanted to do was kick the court heads in the ass for the excessive documents they had been sending the Scouting Legion since the final battle with the titans. The head soldier understood that it was necessary to check the population status since so many people had died, but plotting the damn data on a graph and then asking for the corporal to analyze it 'thoroughly' and report back to the court about his future predictions and findings from the charts was beyond aggravating. Levi's only true concern was for each and every single one of the family members that were unable to find closure from the missing soldiers that had passed on. However, the French soldier knew the court would never address such concerns with the way new land was being discovered.

As time passed by the two older men occupied the room in silence with no conversation imposing, each engaged with their own business until Erwin suddenly broke the stillness.

"Levi."

The corporal answered with a curt, "Hn?" as he continued to skim through the documents in his hand not looking up.

"What would you do if I committed a crime?" the blonde questioned suddenly.

The inquiry made Levi quirk a brow as his beady eyes rolled up glancing at Erwin through dark thin lashes, "Crime? I'm sure you and I have committed enough crimes in the past, Captain."

Erwin's expression didn't change as his eyes bore into the French soldier, but the silence that ensued after Levi's answer gave off an air of trouble—

More so than what the shorter of the two had expected from the way Erwin had went about approaching the topic so openly.

The captain's brows scrunched together as he let his attention drift back to the surface of his wooden desk. Levi wondered just what was it that had crossed the older man's mind when he asked the head soldier that question. The image of Eren dashing out of the room with no regards to Humanity's Strongest replayed in the corporal's mind.

Was that the answer? Had the brat made another mistake?

The French soldier could feel his curiosity peeking, but held it back.

If Erwin didn't want to open up about it, then Levi wouldn't pry.


	4. Chapter 4

_There's a lot of altering scenery in this chapter strangely enough. Even so, I hope you guys will be able to follow the story generally well!_

_~Sum-Won~_

**Chapter 4**

Armin strode down the hallway with a few books in the cradle of his arms. It was already four or so and he had finally finished sorting out the historical selections in the library with Connie and Sasha. Unfortunately, the duo had left him for the kitchen in hopes of filling their stomachs. Leaving the blonde with nothing to do, the soldier departed from the bookroom and headed towards Hange's chamber in order to hand her the new materials he had found while scrimmaging through piles of unwanted documents. Although the records Armin had found were mainly just myths and legends about the titans, he knew that even stories had some sort of factual basis. Even if he and the female scientist couldn't extract any specific information, the two could still digest the context and make conclusions from the text provided. Armin turned the corner with a smile on his face at the thought of his usefulness to the scouts just as he caught a certain brunette at the edge of his peripheral vision.

Cranking his head, the blue eyed soldier called out to the ex-titan shifter, "Hey Eren!"

The taller man heard his name and nervously spun around to see who it was that had addressed him, "Oh… H-Hey Armin!"

Eren's hair was damp, most likely from a shower since he seemed to be out of his training gear. It was as if the brunette was in a rush with the way he was teetering about anxiously just to greet his blonde childhood friend. The bob head sweeped over the brunette's profile from afar not able to see the ex-titan shifter completely vivid with the distance between them. As Armin approached the brunette he began taking note of the crinkled baggy pants and v-neck sweater that the German soldier was wearing.

Eren pulled himself together with a suck of air and walked towards his friend, "What are you up to?"

The blonde was about to carry on the conversation about Hange and the experiments they were planning to initiate in the future when his steps suddenly came to a halt.

"E-Eren?" a worried expressioin crept onto the bob head's face.

"What is it, Armin?" the brunette questioned slightly confused by the sudden change in the Armin's tone from the happy greeting earlier.

"What in the world did you do to get…" the blonde's gasp trailed off with his blue eyes shaking in disbelief as he dropped his books and ran towards his best friend.

The brunette wondered if he had missed out on something until Armin approached him without warning and took a hold of the Eren's shoulders to get a better look at something, his face mere inches from Eren's collar bones.

"Your neck, Eren! It's like one of those blood sucking monsters from the books bit you to death! What in the world happened to you?"

Eren flung back from Armin's touch in horror as the color drained from his face, "W-what? My neck?"

The green eyed soldier turned around in fear as he ran down the hall entering the first room that seemed to be unoccupied. The ex-shifter's eyes moved about erratically throughout the vacant quarter until he caught sight of the mirror at the side hanging above a hollow vase of dried flowers. The brunette impatiently stepped towards the glass frame in hopes that perhaps what Armin had caught a glimpse of was nothing but mere skin discoloration.

Oh how wrong he was…

Hastily pulling the vase aside and onto the ground, the ex-shifter stared into the silver mirror in dread, his heart becoming silent as his reflection came into full view. It almost looked like one of those horrible rashes that a number of soldier's got when they wore their straps for too long in the burning heat. With beaded sweat mixed in with the rubber lining clawing away at many soldier's flesh, a handful of scouts tended to be left with scars from constant usage of the belts in battles and missions.

However, the brunette knew.

He knew that this one wasn't from one of their tiring missions.

No.

It had been from last night.

It had been from Erwin.

Armin had followed behind the ex-titan shifter, but at a much slower pace seeing as he wasn't as physically fit as the brunette. The blonde made it into the room just as the ex-shifter began to raise his hand to his collar bone to feel the tender flesh in disbelief, each finger gently smoothing over the trail of bruises that painted his once solid tan skin.

Eren remembered. He remembered how he had dashed down the stairs from the captain's office. How he flew straight to the nearest bathroom from his dungeon and scrubbed himself from head to toe, scouring at his skin as if he could possibly erase the sensation of Erwin's heated actions from the night away with the water and soap flowing down the drain. The German soldier had been so caught up in his emotions that he didn't even glance at the mirror when he left the water closet and dashed to his room for clothes. When the subordinate had made it to his dim chamber, he had taken no time in flinging on fresh new cotton over his body in haste. There had been no thought of how he looked like or what seemed to have been displayed on his face. Just that he wanted to erase it. He wanted it out of his mind. He wanted it gone; the sensation of the older man's lips roughly sucking at his flesh; the feeling of his fingers pushing into him and clawing at his most sensitive parts. The brunette closed his eyes as he stood in front of the cold slate of glass that reflected himself back vividly.

Armin approached Eren from behind cautiously not sure what to make of the brunette's reactions, "E-Eren? Are you alright?"

Slowly the brunette's head tilted down as his still damp hair covered the side of his face. With heart rate rising, Eren's fists were clenched at his side shaking. Even as the dread cloaked his face, Eren could feel anger flushing his cheeks. Armin was a mere yard from his best friend when he heard it, his hands immediately flinging to cover his ears as the blonde stared in shock, but the brunette didn't even flinch from the sudden action. It was everywhere. Each shard like rain drops scattered onto the floor, painting the empty room's dull brown with diamonds of light cascading from the two windows pinning the walls.

"EREN!" the blonde screamed in horror, "What in the world are you doing?! Y-your hand, it's—"

"It's fine," Eren interrupted a bit too calmly as he turned around so that the bob head could see his face, "I… I was training this morning and I got whip lash from a freak'n tree. Do you know how many damn branches flew across my neck and face?"

Armin nodded slowly trying to soak in what Eren had just stated but was still unable to phase away the confusion that clung to his face. The blonde wanted his best friend to get away from the shattered frame now in front of him. But Armin was also afraid that if he came any closer to the brunette, Eren would do something even crazier. Trying to calm his own senses down, the bob head stood in place trying not to offer his childhood friend any other reasons to injure himself.

"So then, why did you—" the blonde started but was cut short when the ex-shifter laughed suddenly.

"Sorry dude… I… I just got mad at myself because I…"

The blonde swallowed nervously for Eren to finish his incomplete sentence; his blue eyes unyielding from the brunette's right fist that was now bleeding. Armin could see every single little piece of glass shard that stuck out disgustingly from within Eren's raw flesh.

With a sharp gulp of air the ex-shifter finished, "I forgot about it."

"Forgot about…?" Armin urged impatiently wanting to get his best friend out of the room littered with dangerous shattered pieces of glass and into the infirmary quickly.

"I forgot that I'm just a human now."

The blonde stood there behind Eren without any movement. Armin paused and thought about what the soldier had just said. From what the brunette had just stated, the ex-titan shifter had been training this morning. Eren had gotten injured from tree branches...

The brunette was mad right now. Why? Well, Armin assumed that perhaps Eren knew he had gotten injured but had disregarded it since he had automatically assumed he would heal right away. Eren had been stupid… Yes. Stupid, because he forgot that he didn't have titan healing powers anymore. And not even remembering that fact, the brunette had strolled around with wounds wide open for everyone to witness and see. Apparently no one had noticed the brunette's bruises yet except for Armin which was good.

The blonde let out a small sigh.

The explanation sufficed the bob head to some degree, but he doubted that tree branches could give Eren such defined bruises—not to mention that the injuries looked more like bite marks. Perhaps the brunette had been bitten by a horde of squirrels? Armin wanted to know the exact truth, but if Eren was trying to cover it up he must have had a good reason.

The ex-titan shifter stepped over the broken shards on the floor towards Armin steadily so as not to alarm the soldier.

"Sorry," Eren spoke softly, his head hanging in what Armin knew was a gesture of pure defeat.

The bob head wasn't sure how he should take this so he merely sighed in desperation, "Don't worry about it."

Not touching the brunette, Armin stepped towards the exit of the room and softly spoke in caution, "Now, let's just get your hands fixed up before things get worst. We'll clean this up later, okay?"

The brunette gave a sluggish nod at how tender his friend's words sounded and followed Armin out of the room. The ex-shifter hung his head low, bangs covering his eyes.

Eren was sorry, not just for injuring himself…

But for also lying.

And if Armin was still as sharp as a knife, he knew if the blonde noticed anything about the brunette, the timid childhood friend wouldn't mention it.

Eren couldn't tell Armin the truth.

He couldn't tell anyone.

Especially not Mikasa…

Erwin sat in his office trying to concentrate on the documents at hand. He had been able to finish signing the excessive papers when the clock hit nine but was unable to continue with further work when he realized his brain was as dead as a swatted fly. Luckily Hange had passed by earlier with some tea that she had gotten from the infirmary that apparently helped soothed the after effects of a hangover. The captain had gratefully taken some and went on with his daily work. The tea had helped with aiding in calming his stomach and nerves, but it couldn't lower the amount of activity that Erwin's brain was wracking silently.

The object occupying the older man's thoughts was not necessarily yesterday's rations of alcohol.

No.

It was Eren.

Erwin was sure of three things. He had drank too much. He and the brunette had perhaps gotten passed third base in some way seeing as the subordinate had been completely naked beneath the captain when he awoke. And last, Eren was hurt.

The blonde didn't have to ask the ex-shifter directly to know the answer. When Erwin had addressed the brunette about the situation at hand, Eren had merely stood in the middle of the room face turned away. The soldier hadn't even looked at the captain. Silence had ensued when Erwin realized his subordinate wouldn't be answering him any time soon. Anxiety plunged the older man's brain swiftly as Erwin sat in his desk and tried to rack up just how horrid the situation seemed to have been from Eren's stand point.

Perhaps the brunette was embarrassed? Who wouldn't be?

Perhaps Eren was distraught—or maybe even…

Disgusted?

Erwin was very ashamed more so than flustered at the situation, but even so he wanted to understand the brunette. The blonde captain still hadn't completely wrapped his head around the situation yet since he couldn't remember what exactly had happened. If the events of last night had hurt Eren on a mental level, then the older man was willing to take full responsibility. And this wasn't just simply because the ex-titan shifter was his subordinate. Eren wasn't just any soldier—no. Eren was a companion, a friend, a comrade, a savior…

More so than just having saved humanity, Eren and Erwin had shared memories of horrors and hopes that no one in the world could have imagined. So to realize that the two had crossed each other on sexual terms was more than awkward—it was purely appalling, the humiliation falling on both parties.

Erwin wasn't sure how to go about apologizing to the younger man anymore. Because the blonde had already attempted it and failed miserably. When Eren had stood in front of him that morning, he had been prepared to give his plea even before he knew what the problem had been. And the older man was sure that the brunette had known just what Erwin was about to do when he started speaking to the subordinate.

Yet…

Even with an apology at hand for whatever sin that Erwin had perhaps committed, Eren had fled.

The subordinate hadn't let him apologize.

The older man was sure that Eren recognized Erwin's obvious stand in the situation when the captain had taken a step towards the subordinate. Erwin knew that the ex-shifter was well aware of the fact that the blonde would get on his knees if need be. So why? Why did he run away? Was it because Erwin could no longer ask for forgiveness from the brunette? Was it because Eren could no longer look at him the same way anymore?

The subordinate had fled the scene, he had dashed so quick even the captain didn't have time to react—his voice merely calling out for the younger man as he exited the room in one fluid motion. And then the corporal had showed up at the door.

Humanity's strongest…

Or perhaps Humanity's most ignorant right now.

Erwin had been lucky that he had been given some time to have the room cleaned generally well before the corporal had entered. The older man had been fortunate enough to take the chance to fix his unruly hair when Eren had left his question unanswered right before Levi's entrance- not that the scene of Eren naked beneath him hadn't woken him up already. Even so Erwin was grateful to some degree that the corporal hadn't asked for more details as to the state of Eren.

Levi lived a finely defined life on the borders of yes and no. The corporal was a man of privacy. A man of thought and security. Erwin had come to understand from past experience that the French soldier never tried to get into other people's business… Well, that was as long as it didn't lower the person's performance at hand or had anything to do with Levi himself personally, retorted Erwin's conscience.

Putting the completed papers into a neat stack in his drawer, the older man stood up from his desk and strode across the wooden planks that lined his office until he had reached the small book case situated across from his desk. As the captain's right arm reached out to one of the dusty old books crammed between other text collections, Erwin suddenly recalled a faint sensation, the hefty breathing of someone heaving beneath him. However, the memory was too weak, too blurred and drifting even farther off as the blonde disregarded the recollection silently. Pulling out the rough binding of the book he had been eyeing, Erwin noted that it was almost ten.

Goodness!

He had thought about Eren for an hour!

Perhaps he would visit the brunette tomorrow. Erwin didn't like personal problems getting in the way of work—

Nor did he want the image of Eren's back to be the last memory he had of the soldier.

Connie kneeled on the ground with Sasha by his side with Jean angrily mumbling at the back of the small room. With a broom in the bald soldier's hand, he swept at the floor solemnly. Sasha with thick matted gloves picked up the rather large pieces of shattered glass from the ground.

"I bet it was that jackass that broke the mirror," Jean retorted in between cleaning up the mess off the floor.

Sasha frowned knowing exactly who 'that jackass' was and sighed, "Well, Armin didn't say much…."

"You could obviously tell from the way he had his stupid hand bandaged up! He wasn't even hiding it—and he cowered behind Armin like a freaking wuss too!"

Connie sighed, "Look. Maybe he was going to turn to a titan or some-"

"Idiot! He can't turn to a titan anymore!" corrected Jean in frustration over the fact that he was the one now paying for the fool's actions.

The bald soldier bit his upper lip. The tawny head was right. Eren couldn't turn to a titan anymore- DUR. Even the fact that his wounds hadn't healed very quickly blatantly stated that fact.

"Hey…" Sasha intervened softly, "Do you think they got into a fight?"

Jean pulled away the wooden bucket that held the sharp pieces of glass they had collected, "You mean Armin and Eren?"

Connie considered the idea, "That's possible."

"Well, maybe they need to learn how to fight properly, because heck! Even I know shattering a mirror isn't called fighting. That's just plain stupid," hissed Jean as he finished up the corner of the room.

The southern female placed the last large chunk of shimmering crystal into the bin next to her, "It is weird though…. Why would Eren break the mirror—especially since it's not even his?"

"Yes… Why would he?"

All three of the soldiers froze at the sound of the fourth voice.


	5. Chapter 5

_This chapter is a bit depressing..._

_~Sum-Won~_

**Chapter 5**

"C-corporal Levi!" spoke the bald man nervously, "Good afternoon sir!"

The French soldier gave a curt nod in return, his beady eyes meeting up with the other two soldiers briefly to acknowledge their presence, "What happened here, soldiers?"

Sasha gave a rather unpolished salute and answered, "We're not completely sure but apparently the mirror in the room was broken, sir."

Levi stepped into the small wooden chamber taking note of the condition of the place. About a few yards from the entrance there was a circular mirror made of brass lining. His reflection should have been there in the body of the frame, but no. The glass plate that typically shot back a reflection was gone, or at least most of it. Only small pieces of the hardened fiber still clung to the edges of the metal circle; still snagged on with the hold of the pressure from whoever forged the mirror. In truth, the floor should have been littered with jagged diamonds, but luckily the corporal had arrived at the scene quite late. Most of the glass pieces had been picked up already, but the French soldier's eyes could still spot small little speckles of light flickering now and then through the cracks of the wooden boards casing the floor. It was already night time and Levi was sure that the three soldiers would not been able to clean the place thoroughly with the poor lighting the dim lamps provided.

The trio of subordinates continued to stare at Humanity's strongest awaiting any sort of comment or retort he may have had, but instead Levi merely stated, "Alright. Take those buckets and go."

Connie blinked in surprise, "S-sir? But we'd like to—"

"It's too dark. I'll make sure to have the kitchen staff look over this room and finish it in the morning."

The three didn't want to disobey orders so they got their cleaning utensils and began making their exit towards the door when the corporal suddenly spoke again, "The mirror."

"Y-yes, Corporal?!" the three said in unison.

Jean, Sasha, and Connie had been afraid that the damage would come out of their own pockets earlier since they were the only ones—along with Armin and Eren- that had reached the scene in the room today. However, Levi answered their fears calmly.

"I'll report it as an accident since I'm sure none of you actually intended to damage military property."

Jean gave out an internal sigh in relief while Sasha and Connie tried to hide their expressions of gratitude in embarrassment. Seeing that Levi had no more to say, the trio pulled themselves together and strutted out of the room as quickly as possible each following after the other. The French soldier's eyebrows scrunched together the moment his subordinates had left the scene. Investigating the place deeper, Levi inspected the empty frame hanging on the wall once again. Although the French soldier hadn't caught on to everything that the three had been conversing about— seeing as he didn't eavesdrop purposefully, his ears had certainly heard the southern girl's last sentence.

Eren had lived in the ring just right next to the outermost wall and he was sure people who were blatantly swimming in gold didn't occupy themselves in such a dangerous area. So of course, the French soldier knew Eren hadn't been rich. He had lived decently well though Levi assumed— with a family to call him home. But even with the death of his blood relatives, the brunette was a man who avoided anything having to do with money. So to hear that the ex-shifter had damaged military property seemed to catch Levi's attention, not to mention that Eren had made a mess of the room AND hadn't been the one to clean it.

Perhaps the brunette was getting out of hands?

Not only had Eren skipped an experimental session with Hange and the others, but he hadn't reported to his room last night; not to mention the excess shards of glass now occupying the floor due to the ex-shifter's actions. The corporal paced towards the entrance of the room with annoyance as he made his exit making sure to close the door firmly behind him. The head soldier quickly reported to the kitchen and instructed the staff to place a prohibition sign on the assigned door so that no one would go in ignorant of the danger that littered the wooden planks. With that done, Levi turned on his heels and headed towards Eren's dungeon.

The brat needed explanation for his actions. Perhaps the reason that Eren ran out of Erwin's office that morning was because the captain had confronted the fool's childish actions last night and today... If that were so though, then Erwin was more so on top of things than Levi gave him credit for.

Eren lay in bed with blankets strewn about to the side almost dangling off the hard mattress. His injured hand now clean and bandaged was placed gingerly next to him, but the soldier could still feel the flesh throbbing under the thick layers of cotton that covered his wound. Thank god Armin had left him be after making sure the brunette's hand didn't have any more shards embedded in his knuckles. Eren closed his eyes listening to his own metronomic breaths. Suddenly, the ex-shifter cherished the emptiness of his dark dungeon. It was funny how he had once hated it. However, the comfort of being alone wasn't enough though. Because as the sound of activity above the chamber echoed in through the doors that led to his bed, the ex-shifter's thoughts were beginning to wander about again.

Eren had lied to Armin.

The brunette felt a surge of guilt building up in his stomach, but held it back. The lie seemed reasonable though, right? It wasn't like he had told the bob head a story revolving around unicorns and titans shining shoes like leprechauns. Although Eren had hit a pretty good point with Armin about his lack in healing, it wasn't what had made the ex-shifter hit the mirror.

No.

It was the recollection…

The memory…

The vivid sensation of Erwin's tongue sliding across his abdomen.

Of the older man's grip on his hardened-

'GOD! No no no no!' screamed Eren internally hitting the bed with his uninjured fist.

He wasn't going to think about it. He didn't WANT to think about it. The very same memories that rushed into the brunette just now was what had made him so flustered that he had instinctively punched the mirror not too long ago; the one thing in the room that revealed the physical truth to him. In truth, Eren hadn't even registered the action until Armin's voice had ringed out from behind him.

The ex-shifter ruffled his hair about with his left hand frustrated seeing as his right ached too much to be of much use to him. Fortunately his bob headed friend had suggested a change of shirt since they both hadn't wanted Mikasa getting worried over the brunette. As always, Armin's train of thought synchronized with Eren when it came to their little trio of friends. Aware of the consequences that would come about with his adopted sister's discovery, the ex-shifter had immediately found one of his full white button up collared shirts that he would wear from time to time on more formal occasions and flung it on. Although the cloth was rather uncomfortable since it clung a bit close to the skin, the German soldier didn't have much choice seeing as most of his clothes with neck coverage were in the laundry room being washed.

Now alone in the dungeon that he should have returned to last night, Eren closed his eyes again and went back to listening to the soft murmur of the guards that watched the entrance to his chamber as he began to drift off to sleep. Evening out his breath, the ex-shifter turned to the side nearing the state of senses fading. Just as the soldier was about to lose unconsciousness, a loud THUNK echoed from the foot of his bed. Eren's eyes shot open immediately at the sound and got up into a sitting position; reflexes from training. Squinting at the entrance to the chamber he heard a voice echo.

"Shitty brat."

Catching the gasp that was about to slip from his lips, the brunette scrambled to get off his bed to give a messy salute as he realized who it was that was addressing him. The French man approached the open cell door; more typically locked but with the end of the titan era rules were slacking.

"Where have you been all day?" the older man huffed, frustration plain on his face with the way his brows crinkled in impatience.

"Training ground, corpo—"

"Lies," hissed Levi coldly with eyes boring into the lanky figure.

Eren could feel shivers spiking through him; his parched throat now suddenly aching from the untruth he had just spat out. The corporal most likely had been looking for him on the field amongst the soldiers in order to complete a task of sorts if he already knew this much. How else would have the head soldier noticed the younger man's disappearance? Fear crossed the German male's heart, his body half way in preparing itself to be knocked over by Levi.

The older man seldom resorted to violence when it came to his subordinates. However, Eren had been a rather different case seeing as they both met when the brunette had just discovers his titan shifting powers. The discipline that the corporal had flashed to the court had been brutal to the extreme. But proceeding passed the rare event, the French soldier held his ground most of the time with words. Just words. And although the method seemed quite simple, each time Levi spoke it had struck Eren's mind deeply. Even so, the ex-shifter most certainly did get to feel the heel of the corporal's boot from time to time, most of the occasions revolving around the fool's lack of self-control in battle and in front of others.

"You weren't in your chamber last night, guards reported you were absent and never returned at sleeping hours nor morning's change of shift. You had an appointment with Hange at one, but you skipped out and did not report to the calling."

Eren listened intently, positioned at the edge of the bed. Standing at the side of the white mattress, Eren felt his face paling as Levi's list went on and on. However, having heard the last event made the brunette's heart almost stop. Damn it! Eren had forgotten about the ex-titan shifter meeting that Annie had told him about.

"I am sure the meeting you had with the captain did not occupy you until noon," the corporal stated in his deduction that Erwin had slept in due to last night's party and then met up with Eren later that day, "So where were you last night until this morning?"

The brunette stared at the stone flooring, his body facing towards Levi as he recalled of the blonde captain. How did Levi know that he had been with Erwin? Perhaps the captain had told the head soldier? Eren's heart sank deeper.

"Jaeger. Answer me. Truthfully," ordered the head soldier as he crossed his arms; his face expressionless but giving an air of intolerance.

"Sir… I..." Eren's words trailed off as the brunette collected his thoughts.

Levi had just stated that the ex-shifter couldn't have been with the captain until around near noon. So that meant that Erwin hadn't exposed the two's drunken activities from last night. Perhaps the older man had informed Levi that they had been in a meeting after the morning had passed? But if that were true why hadn't Erwin covered for him thoroughly since the corporal was aware he had been missing since last night? Perhaps Erwin didn't care enough for the brunette or he had been caught off guard? Something was amiss, but Eren didn't have the time to sort it out right now. Either way, Levi was ignorant of the events that had occurred. Thank the lords. However, the brunette could feel his eyes swelling from embarrassment. He had just been caught lying and Eren wasn't sure if his next lie would pass the corporal's stone intuition.

"Don't even think about saying you were playing hooky with your friends. I made sure to search thoroughly," the corporal stated noticing the drawn out silence from Eren.

The brunette was at lost for words. Eren didn't have a good comeback and the younger man also feared that perhaps his next scenario would be full of holes. But if the soldier didn't find a good alibi to go by soon, Levi would perhaps tear him apart piece by piece.

"I-it's the truth! I wasn't on the training ground. I lied, and I apologize for that, sir. However, I was training!"

The corporal arched a brow irritably, perhaps the only feature on the man's face that expressed his inner thoughts so openly.

"Oh? Training now? Where?" mused the head soldier, his crossed arms coming apart and sliding to his sides as he took a step towards the younger man.

"Outside of the camping grounds. I don't need everyone watching me when I train—I'm not a kid anymore, Corporal," stated the soldier defiantly.

Eren could feel the tears that were building from before subsiding as his reasoning began aligning again making the panic in his voice fade away.

"Don't you go getting all cocky, Jaeger. Just because the court heads haven't been on your tail doesn't mean you go and act like a five year old on a new built playground," Levi jeered under his breath only loud enough for the two to hear, "Next time you leave the grounds and don't report to your chamber, I'll make sure to lock you up somewhere you'll find wonderful for this 'hard' training of yours."

Eren stood there next to his messy bed staring at the broad shoulders of the French man that he had always called a hero. Levi's figure grew closer as he walked from the cell bars towards Eren's bed stead. If the corporal didn't know of the situation that the brunette was in and Erwin hadn't told him then most likely the captain didn't want the details of last night's event out. What would Levi do if he found out what had happened? Would the corporal be the usual poker faced soldier that led their squad? Eren let out a weak sigh at the thought. That most likely would be the result.

Levi came to a silent stop as he looked to the side of the room deep in thought. The two stood there like that, facing each other for some time as the candles behind Levi flickered about from the weak draft that filtered the basement.

"Jaeger," Levi broke the silence suddenly, "Tomorrow you'll be training with Ackerman and the others in the morning. Don't go skipping again or I'll have Erwin on your tail until sundown."

Eren gave a quick nod at the shorter man a meter or two away from him, not wanting to speak of the blonde captain. And with that, Levi turned to make his leave not uttering another single word. Well, at least Eren didn't get a good beating. Perhaps with the discovery that Eren could no longer heal at god speed, Levi had decided to restrain himself from knocking out his teeth. The brunette looked up at the corporal's back, furthering away with each step. Biting his upper lip, Eren's thoughts slowly plunged into a silent sadness.

If only the French man knew how much the ex-shifter was indebted to him.

When the brunette had been standing in the blonde captain's office after awakening from the horrid mess they had made, Eren had been sure of just what Erwin would do exactly. The ex-shifter understood the captain well enough that if Erwin had to, the older blonde would take it upon himself to make up for whatever he had done wrong. The brunette loved that about him; Erwin's honest and straightforward heart that had led them into battle countless times before.

And Levi— the shorter of the two standing there by his side ready to raise his blade.

The thing was, Eren didn't want Erwin to apologize for what he did, because Eren didn't deserve that. It had been one slip. A single mistake that had led the two to where they were this morning and the brunette couldn't blame the captain for that. Heck—Erwin was drunk! And now the captain couldn't even remember what had happened. Even so, it didn't change the fact that they both were responsible for the mess. It wasn't only that though. Eren shut his eyes and reminded himself of the one thing that made Erwin and him different on so many different levels…

Erwin was captain.

Eren was soldier.

Erwin had a good title going.

Eren had been a monster.

Erwin had lead them to the end of the titans.

Eren had helped, but lost himself many times along the way.

Who had been the one that guided him? Who had been the one that stood among broken bodies and still didn't let the faces of his fallen comrades tear down the unyielding sight of the path that lead to humanity's freedom?

It had been Erwin.

It had been Levi.

It had been those two that pulled the shattered soldier's up and dragged them across the battlefield even when all hope seemed lost, and Eren knew no one could repay the men for their efforts and dedication. The brunette had been given the greatest gift from his leaders, and that was the chance to live and prove his worth to himself, his friends, and the court. Eren could feel his heart sink. The ex-shifter was so indebted; he knew he could never pay the two older men back. Money wasn't a doable course of exchange because time along with sweat and blood overcame the value of physical material, not that the brunette even earned enough to suggest that option.

All in all, if Eren couldn't ever repay them, the brunette wanted to at least be the best of use he could to the captain and corporal. So if Erwin had made a slip that night, the brunette would do his best to avoid its exposition to the world. Erwin's name didn't need to be tarnished, and Eren didn't deserve an apology when he could barely make up for what the two had done for him in the past. Eren's thoughts reeled through his mind as the soldier closed his eyes shuffling himself back into bed. Shoving the feeling of discomfort aside, the brunette pulled the blanket over himself and let his mind drift off to sleep. Eren didn't want the captain's head bowing in shame—no.

Everything that had occurred last night...

Let's just say it never happened.


	6. Chapter 6

_Another chapter to move us right along!_

_~Sum-Won~_

**Chapter 6**

The sun illuminated through the thick forest canopy as he swung from branch to branch, finally utilizing his gear after a month long retirement due to the end of the titans. Eren's curiousity had peaked at the sudden instruction to train with his friends since typically he never even got to see their faces on a day to day basis. However, his questions were answered when Hange appeared out of nowhere and began giving the small group instructions.

The gang had left the training grounds and distanced themselves quite a ways from headquarters. Apparently Erwin had been asked by the court to find other uses for the 3d maneuver gear other than killing titans since humanity no longer would be in need of murdering the fifteen feet monsters. However, the blonde had been too busy to actually start up anything for the court and so had left it to Hange to do whatever she desired as long as it was safe. At first the eccentric had suggested delivery services such as mail packaging, perhaps even catering! Luckily, Humanity's strongest had kicked some reality into her that they were in the middle of nowhere outside of the walls. There weren't any building that she could get her hands on to test out her theory of landing in windows or balancing plates of food. Besides, they had a limited supply of sustenance, so catering in experiments was out of the question. After a long session of bickering with Levi last night as the squad leader told them, Hange had finally woken up that morning with a different plan in mind. Instead the group was going to utilize their gear for hunting.

Yes.

Hunting animals.

As Eren flew passed the greenery, a branch almost nicked his head off, but he dodged just in time.

"Eren, you alright?!" shouted Armin from behind.

The brunette didn't turn around as he yelled out an answer while flying into the air, "Yeah! Doing fine over here! You guys see anything yet?"

Connie passed by the brunette at that moment smoothing right through a small space between two thickly growing branches, "Heck, yeah! Sasha already got her first kill. A rabbit or something! Hange said get back once we've got a good grab."

Just as the bald head finished his sentence and flew forward, a figure soared through the trees towards them from the front. Catching sight of the red scarf tightly wrapped around the person's neck, Eren knew it was Mikasa. The raven head had something that looked like a bag of potatoes on her right shoulder. As the distance between the female warrior and the two men reduced, the brunette realized what his adopted sister was holding as he came to a slow stop.

"I-is that…" Eren's eyes widened with is body dangling in mid-air unmoving.

Mikasa slowed down as she reached Eren a bit out of breath, "Yeah. My first kill for the day."

Armin came to land on a branch not too far from the two and shouted excitedly, "Is that a boar you got there, Mikasa?!"

The female warrior gave a quick nod smiling, "I'll go ahead then. You two hurry, alright?"

"Sure thing!" grinned the brunette as he and the bobbed blonde shot out their gear again to get a move on.

They didn't want Hange waiting forever since they were being timed.

Just as Mikasa disappeared behind them heading back out towards the edge of the forest, Armin heard a scream echo not too far from them. Eren turned towards his childhood friend and mouthed out a certain bald head's name. Without pause Armin gave a nod as the blonde took the lead. The two quickly flew forward intent on finding their impatient friend that had went ahead while they had been conversing with Mikasa. Eventually the two reached a small clearing. Armin came to a smooth stop which Eren hadn't expected. Unable to halt himself from the momentum, the brunette swung right into the blonde causing for their lining to yank with a SNAP from the tree bark. Quickly shooting out the side of his gear that wasn't entangled with Armin's, Eren's hook caught the cross of a lower branch. The brunette flung to the side like a pendulum flipping backwards as Armin plunged passed him but eventually came to an abrupt stop inducing a slight bounce through the thick gear lining.

Breathing harshly Eren shouted out with blood rushing to his head, "A-Armin! Sorry man! I wasn't paying attention and then I just hit into you! You alright?!"

The blonde's hair ruffled slightly as he slowly looked up at the brunette now dangling from his legs, "Yeah… Just a bit dizzy— You should have been more careful Eren! Look at yourself!"

Eren glanced up passed his chest towards the branch his left hook had caught then down at his friend. They were still a ways from the ground. If they had been closer to the forest basin then he could have just dropped Armin but that wasn't going to be an option with the way they were positioned at the moment. Thanks to the two's collision, Armin's left chord had snapped completely with only his right gear still even usable. However, the lining that shot from the blonde's right was entangled with Eren's own chord creating a thick knot just above the ex-titan shifter's ankle strangely enough. The brunette only had one chord holding them both and he wasn't sure if the branch was going to last long enough to pull themselves up.

"Eren," called out Armin from below, "Stay where you are! I'll just reel myself up with the gear hooked to you so I can untie the knot!"

The brunette shouted out an OK as the blonde began to ascend towards his friend. Within a few moments, Armin's head made it passed the brunette's shoulder.

"I'm going to use you as a bit of leverage for myself. Just let me know if it hurts, alright? I'll try to be careful."

The ex-shifter gave a quick nod as his friend progressed forward. Armin gripped firmly onto the brunette's side and began to pull himself up. The sensation of Eren's childhood friend's body smoothing progressively against his own sent a jolt to all of his limps. Without warning, Eren flinched.

With a gasp, Armin clung tighter onto the brunette so as not to fall, "E-Eren? Did I hurt you? Oh my god—I'm so sorry!"

The brunette winced slightly at his friend's apology, "N-no! Don't worry about it. Just keep going, dude."

His cover up wasn't very convincing, but Armin was way too concentrated on the task at hand to notice. As the blonde continued to move upward towards Eren's ankle the titan shifter's heart beat quickened at an alarming rate. He could feel every concavity and curve of Armin's body against his. Strange... He had never been this conscious before.

Finally the blonde's arms were around the ex-shifter's waist, "I'm almost there Eren. Just hold on a bit longer!"

The brunette gulped in air as he felt cold sweat slowly beading on his brow. Please, please, please hurry Armin, thought Eren. The blonde's hands clung to Eren's hardened thighs as he shifted himself up towards the soldier's ankle where the knot was. With his chest heaving up slightly, Eren's fist clenched together. The brunette felt helpless with both of his hands dangling below his head towards the ground. His legs were doing their best to not move as Armin worked on the knot at his feet, however, his drumming heart only told him that he was failing to calm himself.

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Faster! Come on!

Eren's lids closed shut, trying to concentrate on soothing his throbbing veins. He could feel Armin tugging at his ankle, the sense unsteady as the brunette continued to dangle awkwardly from the tree branch that the two were both desperately depending on to hold their weight.

"Alright Eren! I got it!" grinned the blonde from above.

Eren's eyes flung open hopeful as he cranked his neck in order to look up at Armin.

"I'm going to shoot to another branch so we can divide the weight, okay?"

The brunette gave a grunt in response, not caring what his friend did as long as they could just hurry up and separate themselves apart. However to Eren's surprise, instead of immediately shooting out his loosened gear, the blonde shifted down a little towards Eren's head causing for the ex-shifter's tucked shirt to become untucked and fall down towards his chest exposing his stomach. The brunette was going to say something but Armin was too occupied in trying to get the right angle for his hook.

Without warning, Eren felt his friend's soft fingertips graze over the sensitive tanned flesh of his abs and that was it. Eren's body involuntarily flung away from Armin, which made the blonde yelp out in surprise. Before the two knew it, the branch that had been holding their weight snapped.

"EREN!"

The subordinate couldn't turn his head. No. Perhaps he didn't want to. Erwin continued to stare at the younger man, Eren's pants hanging at the hip; seemingly too loose due to the uselessness of an apparently broken belt. The ex-shifter was in the middle of putting on his shirt, but had paused when Erwin had begun speaking to him.

"Eren...?" Erwin questioned softly.

Eren bit his upper lip seemingly attempting to hold back something... S omething that Erwin couldn't understand. Not knowing how to respond to the broken soldier, Erwin approached the brunette slowly. From the expression on Eren's face, the captain knew something had gone wrong.

But what?

THUNK! THUNK!

"Erwin? Tch… Why in the shit is his door even locked?" came an impatient voice hovering behind a slate of wood.

The blonde shuffled about from the far off sound, trying to ignore whoever it was that was attempting to call him back into duty. The man was tired… So tired from the day's work and he just wanted to get some shut-eye.

"Erwin, I know that you're in there. Open up," came the stern voice again. With a frustrated grunt, the the older man sluggishly pulled himself up from the comfortable couch that he had apparently fallen asleep on. Rubbing his eyes, Erwin straightened his hair and smoothed down his wrinkled uniform reluctantly before getting up. With a slow creak, the wooden frame opened as the captain glanced down at a certain short French man.

"Took you long enough…" huffed Levi, his brows scrunched together in annoyance.

Erwin attempted at a half-smiel as he ushered humanity's strongest into his office, "Tea?"

Levi gave a grunt of approval before making his way to the couch that the blonde had passed out on just a few moments ago and seated himself down. As Erwin went about making tea for his guest, Levi slumped against the firm cushions of the room's furniture before speaking.

"Jaeger."

The captain froze internally, his hands almost letting go of the hot pot of water he was gripping on to. Luckily, the captain caught himself in the middle of his panic before any of the drink had spilled over onto his mahogany desk. Although the man's falter had been almost miniscule, Levi took notice of Erwin's reaction to Eren's name. The French man looked away softly exhaling as he continued.

"He's hiding something from us. I'm sure you've already caught on, seeing as you addressed him even before myself yesterday afternoon. I don't know what he could be concealing, but if you've already got him under your belt and understand the circumstances of what he's done then I won't investigate further."

Erwin finished with preparation of the tea as Levi completed his sentence. With a slight clink, the captain took the two cups filled to the brim into his two hands and stepped towards the corporal handing him the warm drink.

"So you've caught on," Erwin stated as Levi took the cup from the blonde.

The French man took a sip as he glanced up at the captain, curious as to what Eren could possibly be trying to hide from his keeper. The blonde placed his cup down on the small empty coffee table between him and Levi as he pulled up a small wooden stool for himself.

"I'm afraid that Eren and I have gotten ourselves tangled in- a little something…," Erwin spoke, his gaze distant and unfocused.

The corporal stayed seated awaiting further elaboration from the older man.

"I'm currently trying to get it under control, but I'm not completely sure how Eren is taking it in. For personal reasons, I won't say too much about the current situation. However—"

"Erwin," Levi interrupted.

The blonde blinked from his thoughts having been cut off mid-way.

The French man placed his drink down next to Erwin's own, "Don't get too attached to the brat. If things don't go well, you know what will happen."

Erwin sighed at Levi's words, "I know that, Levi. Don't worry... Although I said 'for personal reasons' I'm not trying to curb myself from work."

Although the captain stated that with his usual confidence, inside he felt something tweaking but he ignored the feeling. However, a thought crossed his mind.

"However now that you've brought up that topic, it's not just me you know?"

Levi's eyes hardened at how the blonde's line of sight had settled on humanity's strongest.

"Erwin, don't—"

"Just because it's not expressed doesn't mean it isn't there," spoke Erwin his voice going soft, "We lose people and we gain some. Although many people still fear him, you and I know how much he has proven himself to us. He's nothing short of typical. I am sure that you and I can connect to him on a different level than others."

"Tch— Nothing short of typical my ass. He's worse than the shitheads sweeping the market streets at noon," retorted Levi with a hint of warmth in his eyes.

Erwin was about to smile at the statement when a thought dawned on him.

"Eren is out with Hange and the squad I suppose?"

"Apparently four eyes wanted to run an experiment at the edge of the forest to the south. There's nothing much really progressing lately with the way the court is arguing over land division so I let Hange take him for the day."

"You too."

"Huh?" the corporal quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

"Go with them."

Levi stared at the man in front of him, "Why?"

The blonde chuckled, "You don't have to stay for whatever they're doing, but just go check up on Eren for my sake. You're done with your day's work right?"

For his sake, he says.

The French man frowned slightly as he thought through his day's schedule, "Yes, I am."

"Well then, off you go. I think I'm coming down with something so I'm going to try and catch some more sleep. Wake me when Hange get's back, would you?"

The corporal gave a curt nod before getting up from his seat and exiting the room. Erwin stayed on his wooden stool and stared at the two cups in front of him. Levi's was empty of course. With a huff, the man heaved himself off the small stool he had been seated on and walked towards the open window located at the back of the room. The blonde man surveyed the scenery from his office as thoughts of Eren ran through him. Erwin wasn't ready yet.

He wasn't ready for Levi to know.

And if he could fix things between him and Eren, then perhaps it would be even better if the French man never found out.


	7. Chapter 7

_Finally! I have finished editing and compiling the chapters... *sobsob* I'm working on chapter 8 right now so hopefully things will get updated soon. I'm really sorry to those who have already read through all of these chapters and are simply awaiting for new material. However, if you have free time I advise you guys to reread through some of the edited chapters since I did add in a few things that weren't there before. Again, I apologize for my fail promises!_

_~Sum-Won~_

**Chapter 7**

"Eren! Wait up!" shouted Connie as the three finally made it out of the forest with a very large and hairy object in his and Armin's arms, "What is the matter with you?"

Mikasa had been faced away from the forest surveying the bleak fields that spread between headquarters and the forest canopy. But when she heard the mention of her adopted brother's name, she quickly turned around and began strutting towards the trio coming out of the dry vegetation. The three men with the help of a few others heaved the dead creature onto the wooden carriage with a loud THUD before Armin took the initiative to approach the raven head.

"Whoa… Big catch," Mikasa stated before looking up to question their ragged and out of breathe arrival.

The brunette and his bob headed friend were a mess with dried leaves and broken twigs decorating their brow like a crown.

"M-Mikasa…" exhaled Armin in relief, "Um… Eren- That is... I think I accidentally hurt Eren? But he won't say anything. Um- Talk to him will you?"

The brunette had strolled a little ways from the group and his friends, straightening out his jacket and turning over any backward belts he had. Mikasa eyed the ex-shifter with concern as she turned away from Armin and paced towards her adopted brother.

"Eren, what's wrong?" probed the female soldier, her voice coming out lax.

The ex-shifter froze slightly at the female warrior's voice but then quickly twisted around with a grin plastered on his face adding in a nervous laugh, "Well, I wasn't paying attention so I flew right into Armin while we were trying to find Connie. My back and waist hurts slightly… Urgh… I mean a lot. I think I may have some bruises but that's about it. Nothing to worry about! We have extra gear lining right? Armin's and mine broke on one side. Well then, I'll just go fix this up now then!"

Mikasa gave a stern nod at the brunette's reassurance as Eren hopped off in the direction where the extra wire was kept, hoping that the scenario that he had just spoken of truly was the only issue. However, Mikasa could feel her consciousness digging more dirt. Eren let out a sigh of relief once everyone's attention had gone to the wooden cart that held the majority of the dead carcasses each soldier had been able to bring back from out of the forest.

Apparently Connie had snagged his lining on a branch and found himself plummeting to the ground. Strangely enough, the bald soldier had been lucky to land in a grove of overgrown bushes. Armin and Eren weren't so fortunate when they made their descend to the ground. The childhood friends had tangled and snapped a number of branches before making way passed the trunk of whatever overgrown tree had been willing to help lower their speed of plunge. But through some great fortune, the duo didn't crack any bones. Well… That was because they had landed on a sleeping bear. Their fall had apparently been so perfect that they had found cushion and a kill. With the awkward stance that Eren and Armin had taken as they plummeted downward, the two effectively broke the bear's neck and spine at the same time instantly killing the big hairy creature.

Once the bald soldier had pulled his gear back together, Connie had decided to travel back towards the forest's edge even though he was without a catch in an attempt to find his friends since he had heard Armin's desperate call for the brunette. When the bald soldier arrived and had been filled in on the situation Armin and Eren had been in, the three worked together with Armin and Eren's broken lining to get the heavy carcass up and off the forest clearing in order to be brought back to the outside world. It had been a strange and awkward team effort when they decided to use Eren's and Armin's broken straps as ropes to hold up the dead bear. The brunette and blonde took turns swinging at an uncomfortable angle with a dead animal dragging them both down. However by some great luck, the trio managed to make it out unscathed.

The group gathered around the wooden cart that held the fresh meat as Hange finished taking note of the experiment with the addition of Eren and Armin's gear completed in being re-wired. As the gang of soldiers readied themselves for the next round of activities, Hange closed her notebook and began giving out orders.

"Alright! Let's have everyone in pairs now! Come on! Come on!" shouted the eccentric.

Each person found a partner to work with as the female scientist continued with her instructions, "Alright! This time I want you all to go back in but aim for a flying animal, alright? Don't get on the ground! All air work now! I'll be timing again, so make sure to not drift off too far from the edge! You guys ready?"

Everyone gave a swift nod as Hange blew the whistle to start. With the high pitch sound cutting through the air, each soldier shot out their gear and was gone from sight within seconds.

And that was how Levi found Hange—alone and awaiting her little guinea pigs to return.

The female scientist noticed the short man's stature from the corner of her eyes and turned around to give an excited wave, "Joining in on us today now are you Corporal?!"

Levi gave a roll of his eyes as he closed the distance between them, "Orders from Erwin to check up on you."

"Really now? Perhaps that's just an excuse to keep track of your little pet?" teased Hange her smile widening with a silly spark in her eyes.

The corporal frowned at the eccentric's idea of a joke, "I'm just his keeper. Nothing more. Nothing less. So how's progress?"

"Oh! Good! Good! I'll have to compile up the data and sort out the timing later when we get back," chirped the female scientist.

Hange continued to rant on and on about her progress to Levi. However, the corporal and squad leader's conversation was interrupted when the sound of soldier's landing on hard dirt came in hissing not too far from them. The two turned around to find Annie, Ymir, and Christa back; each woman with a different type of winged creature in their hands.

"On the cart too?" asked Annie with little interest.

Hange gave a quick nod as she investigated the new types of birds the three had discovered. Each of the winged animals shown with bright colors and differently shaped beaks.

"My gosh! These are gorgeous!" praised the eccentric, her eyes widening at the find, "I can't wait to take them into my lab and prod their beautiful flesh apart with my nee—"

"Alright," grunted Levi as he shifted the cape hovering over his shoulder, "We don't need any more details about your nightly shift of shitting. I'll be heading back now. Anything you need to tell Erwin?"

Hange turned her head, eyes still sparkling, "Just let him know we're almost done! We'll be back soon!"

"Good," the French man responded.

Just as Levi was about to turn around and head back towards headquarters, he heard the sound of other soldiers landing onto the hard earth.

"Eren!" Mikasa yelled out as a bob headed blonde tailed her with three small feathery creatures in hand. Jean was the last to get out of the greenery apparently having been partnered with Armin.

Levi caught sight of the ex-shifter stomping away from the raven head, anxiously trying to get some distance between him and any other soldiers occupying the dirt ground.

"What's the problem here?" Levi spoke out a bit too haste.

He hadn't meant to but his curiousity had sparked his tongue before he had time to hold it back. Expectedly, green eyes widened at the sight of the corporal. The sound of the stern man's voice had knocked Eren out of his tantrum. Levi released a silent sigh as he strutted towards the ex-shifter a few meters away. Mikasa and Armin stood where they were eyeing Eren with worry. As the corporal grew closer to the brunette, with a clenched fist Mikasa intervened the short statured man's path with eyes narrowing. Taking a rather bold initiative, the raven head stood in front of Humanity's Strongest stopping Levi from going any further towards the brunette.

"Corporal Levi," the female warrior spoke out calmly.

The older man looked up at the female soldier with disinterest.

"Can we talk in private?"

Levi frowned slightly at the sudden request. From the corner of his peripheral vision he could see Eren was occupied with attempting to look like he was busy with something so as to avoid talking with the French man. What was he hiding? However, Mikasa ignored the amount of attention Levi was giving her adopted brother and instead took the French man's silence as consent to continue. Without a word, the raven head walked away from the group. The corporal thought about ignoring the female soldier's request but with a slight pause reluctantly tailed her, away from the brunette. Although it was true that Levi had nothing to do after checking up on Hange and reporting to Erwin, he was still an impatient man. No, he wasn't unsociable. He just hated small talk. However, something told the French soldier that Mikasa wasn't going to be talking about making flower crowns in the grass over a picnic. Once the two were a good number of yards away from the others, the female soldier turned swiftly around to address the man behind her, her eyes hardening.

"Why are you here?"

The corporal knew what Mikasa was referring to. The raven head had been told that the group of soldiers would only be spending time with Hange today and that Erwin and Levi would not meet with the gang until night fall. However, Erwin had instructed the French man to come check up on them since Levi had finished his duties earlier than expected. Looking at the situation now though, the older man was too lazy to explain to the raven head and so instead let the conversation stray back to something that seemed to nitpick at his brain a bit more so than the issue at hand. Why had he been dragged away from the group when they could have obviously just spoken in front of the others? Was there something Mikasa didn't want the soldiers to hear?

Levi looked at Mikasa deadpan as if things could get any more interesting, "You tell me."

The raven head's eyes widened slightly at the comeback however it didn't throw her off from where the conversation was heading, "Fine then. Eren is sensitive, sir."

The corporal let the statement sink in. Yes. Eren was sensitive. No. He wasn't just sensitive. He was a freak'n DRAMA queen. However, through the years, the brunette had progressively grown out of his teenage hormonal mood swings. Dissecting the sentence further; Eren was emotional. Yes. Very, very much responsive and actively reacting. But that was typical of him. So what was the importance of this conversation?

"Eren's been good. He's been doing great. He's progressing well, and he hasn't been violent. Armin and I can prove it, Corporal. We have evidence—even Hange can. She's done experiments on him and he hasn't rebooted her even once. Training has been slightly askew, but Eren has attended them except yesterday because he was injured from his own personal training agenda which I can understand. I'm sure you can as well. He's stubborn—yeah. But he's obedient, sir. Well, he's not a titan anymore so of course he needed time to heal. But he's still dedicated and if you need proof I'd gladly get him to demonstrate for you. So if—"

"I get it."

Mikasa was trembling slightly, her breathing coming out with a slight shake blowing away the strands of elegant black silhouetting the side of her face. Levi's frown had gotten even deeper, his brows scrunched together from the fact that he knew what Mikasa was getting at here.

"I get it, Ackerman. And no—I'm not here to punish him. That's already been done enough."

Mikasa's eyes widened, "So it was you..."

The corporal irked an eyebrow at the statement, "What?"

The raven head bit her upper lip trying to withhold her anger from spilling, "Eren's jaw. I saw it."

Levi continued to stare at Ackerman, his confusion unphased. What about Eren's freak'n jaw?

"You hurt Eren."

Levi's frown deepened at the accusation and spoke calmly, "I did not lay a finger on him, Ackerman. I have only spoken to him last night."

'And maybe threatened him a little,' Levi finished internally.

The female warrior's eyes bore into the older man. At first it had been accusing, but now it had softened to some degree. Armin had informed the raven head last night that Eren had gone training yesterday morning outside of the walls on his own; thus the reason why he hadn't been at the training ground with the others. However, the blonde hadn't informed Mikasa of the brunette's injuries. This morning, the raven head had taken it upon herself to lecture the brunette thoroughly about safety procedures. Eren gave back the usual retort about not being a child anymore which urked the female warrior to no end. However, Mikasa had done her best to keep her cool. Atleast, that was until she noticed the small bruises under Eren's jawline when he had turned his head to the side to plead Armin to save him from the girl's 'motherly' lectures. Mikasa hadn't said anything at the time, but in her thoughts she had already begun deducting down the list of candidates that could have possibly hurt her adopted sibling. By the time the group had finished the first experiment with Hange, Mikasa's brain had fell upon one person that could possibly injure Eren out of her sight which was obviously none other than the great Levi.

When Hange had reported to the corporal yesterday afternoon about Eren's disappearance, the French man had gone looking for him had he not? If so, then when Eren had been found wouldn't the corporal have punished the brunette accordingly? Mikasa was sure that Levi had held back his kicks and punches since the bruises that she had caught glance of on Eren had been rather miniscule. But even so, the thought that someone had hurt Eren was beyond aggravating. But to Mikasa's surprise, Levi had just confessed to her that he hadn't done anything to the brunette. If the French man wasn't lying, then the only reason for Eren's injuries would most likely be the ex-shifter's personal training that the raven head felt was being taken too seriously.

"Tell me, is the brat's performance hindering today's experiment?"

The sound of the corporal's voice brought the raven head back to reality. Mikasa's brows scrunched a little from the French man's use of "brat" but didn't give a reboot. Not looking up, the female warrior answered, "Not… necessarily."

Levi snorted to himself internally, 'Which meant, yes it was.'

It was obvious that Mikasa wanted to defend her adopted brother, but of course there was also the line of power that she had to adhere to. Levi gave a quick glance at the brunette who had settled off on a dead stump. Apparently Hange had finished her experiment and everyone was getting their gear off and put away. Eren's shoulders were slumped over as he attempted to take off his straps, the young man's lips forming a thin line in what Levi could only say was a pout.

"I'm currently trying to get it under control, but I'm not completely sure how Eren is taking it in."

Eren's jaw, thought the corporal. From this distance the French soldier couldn't make out any injuries on the ex-shifter though. How in the world had that brat injured it? He'd have to make sure to check on it later.

Levi looked back at Mikasa noting how the soldier's head was tilted down with her face buried in her scarf just enough so that only the bridge of her nose could be seen. With a sigh, the corporal ran his tongue over the front of his top row of teeth.

Eren's performance wasn't hindering to say, but certain things must have came up to make the raven head hesitate to answer Levi. For real? Communication? The training field was for physical work, not emotional wreckage. What could possibly be making Eren make his comrades doubt him? Especially among his closest friends? True, only Mikasa had decided to speak to Humanity's strongest head on, but even from this distance the corporal could see Armin glancing nerviously at Eren as though the brunette would do something uncalled for at any moment. The corporal concentrated thinking over the little clues that he had gathered from today. Most likely Eren's turmoil had something to do with Erwin's situation.

But Levi didn't know what the hell Erwin and Eren's situation was!

If Erwin didn't want to share anything, Levi wouldn't pry.

That had always been the rule. Not just for Erwin, but for everyone. The corporal never pried; the only exception being when a soldier's issues were being displayed through their failure to complete a job. And for Eren although it was hinted, the little trio of brats communication issue wasn't enough for Humanity's strongest to pull the brunette aside and yank out the details of whatever dirt activity was going on in Eren's brain.

He had said it himself didn't he?

"Don't get too attached to the brat. If things don't go well, you know what will happen."

Well, it wasn't that Levi was getting too attach the corporal convinced himself.

The excuse was that he was Eren's keeper—

He was Eren's squad captain.

Eren's corporal.

Levi had always understood that reason which lead towards his concern for the ex-shifter. It made sense. When dogs get wild, you punish them and make sure they're obedient. That's what the corporal was doing right now. Fixing things so that the future would look a bit more promising. So screw it that Eren's problem wasn't big enough right now. Levi would be sure to correct things before Eren got out of hand.

"Just because it's not expressed doesn't mean it isn't there"

Levi's teeth clenched together. Although there was really nothing the French soldier could say that he felt towards the brunette, the statement irked him to some degree. He had never thought Eren as more than a soldier and comrade. They were not best friends, nor did Levi care for Eren like a son. Could it be that Humanity's Strongest was going too softly on Eren? Perhaps this was the reason Erwin had assumed that Levi had grown attached to the brat? But even so, Erwin had stated 'it's not just me you know?' before looking at Levi straight in the eye. Was Erwin trying to say that Eren had become someone very dear to the older man?

"Corporal Levi?"

The French man looked up at the raven head, her eyes gazing off at the brunette's effort to untangle the web of straps from the gear he was wearing. The raven head bit her upper lip in thought, her brow lowering as she paused to contemplate. With an exhale, Mikasa held the corporal's gaze not withdrawing.

"I didn't notice before, but since this morning Eren has been… He's been getting trippy, even over just Armin and me. I'm sorry for the accusation, but I saw the bruises under Eren's jaw and well... You're the first person who'd correct him if anything so I thought it had been you. If the injury is from his personal training, then maybe it's too much for him. If you could, hold him back. Even if just a little. I don't know what's going on exactly, but as a personal request, I don't want him getting hurt any more than he has too," finished Mikasa her voice lowering to almost a whisper.

"I'm worried about him."

The corporal did not break the line of vision the two were holding. Instead he continued to stare straight at the female warrior. He knew Mikasa had little liking for himself, but the raven head couldn't deny the corporal's unlimited skills in the military. Throughout the years Mikasa had accepted that. She had accepted that no matter what she did, Levi would always find Eren first. Levi would always save Eren first. Levi was always first. First in the military. First to be called out to help a soldier. First to address failure.

First, first, first!

It wasn't fair to say the least. Eren had always turned to Levi and Erwin before even Mikasa and Armin. But it did make sense. They were the higher ups. They knew what the plan was. They led the way. And though Mikasa had expected for Eren to lean on the older men more she couldn't say it hurt any less. Somewhere in the past, the habit of Eren running up to the two older men became a procedure. A rule. Something that she and the others naturally were forced to get used to. But even with Eren looking at Erwin and Levi the majority of the time, Mikasa didn't give up. If the only way to keep tabs on Eren was through the corporal, Mikasa would do that. She never backed down from Eren's side before and she wasn't going to now.

"I can't promise anything, Ackerman."

Levi didn't even know what Eren was doing that could possibly wreck him under the jaw. Was he whipping his face with tree branches or something? Trying to hang himself in an attempt to test how well his body really was holding up as a regular human? Levi couldn't imagine Eren turning to a crazy scientist like Hange. Getting into fights? Well, the corporal hadn't heard of any brawls in the army that had been note worthy in the past week. Was Eren being attacked by bullies? But everyone feared him so much that the majority of people just ignored him not to mention Eren rarely hung out with people he didn't know.

The raven head raised her face to look straight at the corporal, "I know, but you've been with Eren for ten years. I'm sure you'll continue to be by his side, right?"

The corporal thought about what Mikasa had just stated as his thoughts ran amuck. Ugh... he hated troublesome brats. At this rate, he would have to go poke at the brunette for just a little bit of detail. Well, atleast enough to satiate the problem at hand- not that Levi hadn't been already thinking of doing that.

Levi ran over his thoughts in a rush.

Number one. Eren was injured. Although the corporal wasn't even sure just how bad the injury was, from what Mikasa had said it wasn't a very big deal. Hell, the shitty brat had experienced his limps flying off. The worst part wasn't that Eren was injured but the fact that he was concealing that bit of information from his higher ups. Number two. Eren was losing his good relations with his comrades. And although Levi was not sure over what exactly, his hunches that Erwin seemed most likely to be the cause seemed very plausible.

With a final reel of the details, Levi decided he would talk to the brunette. That usually helped. Seriously though, with the way things were going so far there really wasn't much Levi needed to nitpick over Eren about. The issue of communication with Mikasa and Armin wasn't his business. The only thing that the corporal really needed to check on was Eren's wound. However, if Eren's distractions grew too much and began to expand beyond his little circle of friends, the corporal understood that only then would he need to do something more.

"Corporal?!"

The two turned to see Hange approaching them from afar, "Didn't you say you were leaving?"


	8. Chapter 8

_This chapter was a hard one to write because I couldn't get the pacing right. I feel like I haven't given Levi and Eren enough interaction and yet I also feel like when it comes down to Erwin and Eren interacting I tend to leave out the most important elements of their interaction. *sigh* Well, either way I hope you guys enjoy!_

_Next chapter will be more Ereri moments. It's straight Levi and Eren development from here on out hopefully! Again, sorry for the sluggish progress!_

_~Sum-Won~_

**Chapter 8**

Eren shoved his boots off with frustration plain in his efforts to undress. He was dirty from head to toe in mud, but the thing was he knew he definitely wasn't the one that had the right to complain at the moment. Sasha had twisted an ankle, and Reiner's face was pretty bruised up last time he saw them before they had been ushered to the infirmary. It had been Eren's fault, which he wouldn't deny. He couldn't help it, and it made him all the more aggravated. Pulling out the bundle of freshly washed clothes that Armin had been kind enough to deliver to the brunette, Eren yanked off his dirt stained uniform shirt in exchange for a more presentable one. He wasn't going to have time to take a bath before the Captain and Corporal met up with them to look over what Hange had been able to conclude from today's experiment. However, that wasn't going to stop Eren from looking at least somewhat decent.

The German soldier wasn't completely sure if his new shirt covered up the bruises that Erwin had given him very well since the brunette didn't have a mirror in his so called dungeon of a room. However, from what he could tell from the last polo that he had worn, the button up should suffice. With a quick comb through his messy brown locks with his fingers, Eren licked his chapped lips and headed out of the dimly lit cell. As Eren trudged through the corridors up towards the meeting room that Hange had instructed for the group to arrive at, his thoughts began to wander about. The brunette seriously didn't want to see Erwin so soon. He had hoped that his training and Hange's experimentation would keep him away from the older man but it seemed that his plan had backfired. The brunette's brows knitted against each other as he tried to calm his nerves. Erwin wasn't going to do anything to the brunette, Eren reassured himself. The captain wasn't that kind of a person. Erwin was a respectable captain. Smart. Honorable. And the brunette was set on keeping that untarnished image of the blonde in his memory that way.

"Hey Eren!"

The ex-shifter snapped from his little daydream and looked up to meet eyes with a certain female eccentric standing at the entrance to the meeting room. Hange grinned merrily with all teeth showing as Eren arrived at the open door.

"Hello, Hange," the brunette greeted with a rather tired expression.

"It's good to see you're here! Everyone has already arrived so I thought you may have went and skipped out on me again," laughed the scientist, "But luckily you're here!"

Eren tried to return Hange's positive attitude with a smile, but he seriously couldn't feel any joy from the completion of the experiment nor the quickly arriving meeting they were about to attend to.

"Shut the door, four eyes. Let the brat in and let's get started. We don't need everyone shitting in this room all night long," echoed a stern voice from within the chamber most certainly belonging to Levi.

Hange made a pouting expression at the French man before turning back towards the German soldier still standing at the door. Inviting Eren into the large circular chamber, the brunette did his best to stay calm as he walked to his assigned seat, making sure to not catch Erwin's attention too much. When Eren had finally sat down, he gave a quick glance at Mikasa and Armin who were seated across from him. Two chairs had been left unoccupied at the end of the table- which he knew were Sasha's and Reiner's placing. Armin had taken the liberty of reporting to Hange that the two soldiers would not be attending the meeting with the rest of the gang since they were still being treated by a nurse in the infirmary. Eren wasn't sure if the details of how the two came to be in such a situation had already been spilled to the Corporal and Captain, but the German male predicted that once Levi heard of his slips the French man would be sure to address him about it soon enough.

Strangely enough, everything progressed pretty smoothly as the group moved into the main point of their gathering. The majority of the time, Eren found that the Hange did most of the talking with everyone inserting a comment or two about how they felt pertaining to the experiment from time to time. As the clock in the room ticked on, the conversation reeled with how further experiment would perhaps be needed in order to completely suffice the female eccentric's analysis of the usefulness of the maneuver gear to humanity's economy. However, everyone came to the general conclusion that yes. The maneuver gear could definitely be used to help increase the efficiency of humanity's food stock. And with a brief overview of what was to come from the court from Levi, the meeting was adjourned with everyone generally satisfied with the results of the night's conference.

As the soldiers trickled out of the room leaving just Levi and Hange to loiter about reviewing over the day's data tables recorded by the eccentric, Eren did his best to be as quiet as possible as he pulled himself up from his assigned seat and began tailing Mikasa and Armin out of the room. As the brunette made it into the hallway and positioned himself between his two friends a voice echoed from behind him.

"Eren."

The brunette almost froze in place recognizing the deep baritone addressing him. Even with his friend's stopping to acknowledge the presence behind them, Eren bit his upper lip and tried to pretend he hadn't heard Erwin's voice. But of course Mikasa just had to tug at his arm to stop him from leaving…

"Eren… Captain Erwin is calling you," whispered the raven head into the ex-shifter's ear completely indiscrete.

The brunette stood there for a moment not wanting to turn around, but he knew he couldn't avoid the Captain forever. Erwin was his higher up and if he strutted away like a deaf cow his actions would most likely be written down as insubordination. The brunette knew the blonde older man would never actually document such a trivial action and report it to the court, but that didn't mean that other people who didn't know him wouldn't do it. 'And you never know who could be lurking in headquarters at night set on getting me in trouble,' Eren reminded himself internally. if the military heard of anything bad pertaining to the German male, Eren was sure they would try to use it as an excuse to pluck the ex-shifter out of the Legion Scouts and onto the execution list. After all, Eren wasn't needed anymore by humanity.

Reluctantly, Eren turned around with his eyes glued to the stone floor as he addressed the older man, "Yes, sir?"

"I need to speak to you, Eren. Please, follow me to my office," ordered Erwin in his usual neutrally fixed tone.

Eren did his best to keep a poker face as he stepped forward and tailed Erwin down the hallway not even glancing back at his friends. As the brunette abandoned Armin and Mikasa who were left to linger in the corridor, Eren braced himself for what was about to come.

"But things didn't end up too well…" Hange stated with a worried expression as she shut the door to the entrance of the meeting room and locked it with a click. Levi's brows scrunched together as he leaned against the cold stone wall in thought watching the eccentric close up the place.

After a moment, he responded to the female scientist, "Is that why Braun and Braus were absent?"

Hange gave a quick nod as she let out an exasperated sigh, "But look! I'm not trying to say that it was completely Eren's fault, alright? It's just that I really wanted to test out my 'human net' theory and today just seemed to be the right day with us out at the South and all! However, Eren just made a slip when everyone was trying to complete the formation. Don't be too hard on him, alright…? I just want you to check up on him and make sure everything is going alright. You are his keeper after all."

The corporal gave an internal snort at the second to last statement. It wasn't like the corporal hadn't already had that on his agenda. However, now Levi had a good excuse to actually ask the brunette for details pertaining to Eren's lack of communication and self-discipline. The corporal hadn't expected the brunette's situation to escalate so quickly since he thought that Eren's issue had just been among his close friends. You know… The usual young love drama shit. However, now that it had expanded beyond his little trio of butterflies, the corporal had a reasonable initiative to pry into the ex-shifter's business.

Not that he wanted to… necessarily, noted Levi's consciousness.

"Fine… Since you've been yapping so much about this, I'll see to it," stated the French man feigning annoyance as he strolled down the empty corridor leading the way.

Eventually, Levi turned the corner into the hallway that ran perpendicular to the female scientist's quarter. With a wave, Hange departed to bed leaving Humanity's Stongest stuck with thoughts pertaining to Eren. That is—until he caught sight of a certain bobbed blonde and raven head huddled in a dim corner of the hallway that trailed off into the soldier's dormitory. The French man surveyed over the two quickly, trying to find a certain brown mop head. However, Eren wasn't there. The brunette had been with Armin and Mikasa as they had made their exit from the meeting, had he not? Perhaps Eren had gone to bed first?

"Arlert. Ackerman," spoke the French soldier in his usual monotone.

Armin jumped slightly at the sound of Levi's voice but turned around quickly to give a nervous salute to the older man, "C-corporal Levi! Sorry sir! Mikasa and I just needed to exchange a bit of information before we headed off to bed."

Levi cocked his head to the side as he approached the duo with arms crossed. Noticing the two's rather stiff and tense posture Levi questioned, "Is there something wrong?"

"N-no! Not at—," started Armin nervously as he was cut off by the female warrior standing next to him.

"Yes, there is something wrong, sir. Are you guys planning on doing something to Eren?"

Levi frowned at Mikasa realizing that perhaps the female warrior's sharp tongue was due to Eren's absence from the trio, "Where is Jaeger?"

"You said you didn't hurt him, Corporal. I hope that applies to the future as well…"

Levi stared at the female warrior with no expression as he listened to her voice ring in the hallway softly. Her threatening statement was short, but held a menacing tone that Levi recognized all too well. However, the French soldier didn't have time for the raven head's prying. He was tired and needed rest—just as everyone else did. Mikasa slid in front of Armin protectively as she looked at the corporal with a stern expression plastered on her face.

"Corporal… Urm... A-About your question pertaining to Eren. He is with the Captain," Armin spoke from behind the rave head even though he could sense Mikasa's rising intimidation from whatever scenario she was piecing together in her brain.

The corporal gave a quick nod, satisfied that he had been given a straight answer and turned around ready to head for Erwin's office when suddenly Mikasa's voice echoed again from behind him.

"Don't touch Eren."

Levi didn't turn around but swung his face to the side glancing over at Mikasa silently, "What do you mean?"

Armin tried to pull the raven head away as he stood anxiously behind the woman with a hand clinging to her wrist in a jittery manner. The raven head ignored her friend's plea and paused to look up at Levi carefully before continuing, this time in a much lower voice.

"I'm saying that he's fine with us being near him, but—"

"Something must have happened to Eren, Corporal Levi!" Armin shouted suddenly cutting into Mikasa's sentence when he realized that the girl wasn't going to help him conceal anything anymore, "And whatever it was that happened, it's causing him to avoid any sort of physical contact. He's been that way since yesterday evening, sir. I know it's not my place to tell you, but as his friend I can't keep silent forever. Eren told me that he had been training by himself that morning after the Legion's celebration. I thought he was with you or the Captain… However…"

The blonde glanced up at Mikasa implying that she had told him about her confrontation with the French man. Levi stood there in the middle of the hallway trying to piece together what the blonde was saying. He had just finished talking with Hange about Eren's failure to work with others, and now Mikasa and Armin were trying to tell him that Eren was having haphephobia. What in the world was going on? How in the hell did that brat suddenly develop a fear of touching others when he was sure the brunette had been forced to come into contact with other soldiers and ugly ass monsters for a decade already?

Then a thought struck the French man.

"You said that he has been like this since yesterday evening, correct?" reinstated Levi.

Armin gave a swift nod his large eyes glistening from the candlelight, "Yes, sir."

Humanity's Strongest stood there in the elongated corridor no longer completely faced away from the two younger soldiers. The French man's body was turned to the side as Levi let himself drift off in thought. Between the span of time after the Legion party and when he had caught Eren dashing out of Erwin's office, the brunette had experienced something horrid. Something so terrible that he could no longer interact with his fellow team mates like normal anymore. What could have occurred? From what Levi could gather, the brunette had been feeding into everyone's brain that he had been training that morning alone outside of the camp grounds. If that were true, then that would mean that Eren would have most likely experienced this 'traumatic event' outside of headquarters. However, Levi knew that no matter how much they all speculated, there was only one way to truly find the answer.

And that was to ask Eren himself.

"Alright then," the corporal spoke as he turned away from the two again, "That's enough for tonight, you two. Go to bed."

Mikasa's eyes widened at the statement, "But Corporal! At least tell us!"

"Tell you what?" grunted the man as he began walking away again.

"Tell me why Eren is so afraid!" shouted the raven head angrily as desperation lined the edges of her voice.

Levi continued strutting away from the two without much care although his thoughts were contradicting his composure. Afraid? Afraid of what? Afraid of being touched as Armin had just stated? How in the hell would he know? He was still in the middle of trying to figure that out himself!

"When Captain Erwin came by and asked for Eren, he… Eren hesitated so much! I've known Eren for a long time. The only thing that I can say is that Eren looked like his stomach was turning to spaghetti noodles. That's why I..!"

"That's why you asked me if we were doing anything to him, obviously," Levi spoke loudly over his shoulder as the distance between him and the duo continued to increase, "Now go to sleep. That's an order, Arlert and Ackerman!"

Mikasa's eyes bore into the older man's fading silhouette as disappointment wrung her brain. Armin wasn't sure what to do since he had been hoping that he and Mikasa could avoid telling the corporal anything they had been discussing in the hallway. Well.. That had been the original plan. However, the raven head had ruined his precautions and now they had basically spilled everything to the French man recklessly.

"I remember everything, Eren."

The brunette's eyes grew big at the blonde's statement as he stood at the entrance of the Captain's office. Eren hadn't said it, but he physically refused to enter the room. The blonde had noticed Eren's decline of entrance, however Erwin did not usher nor coax him in.

"Y-you do, Captain?"

Erwin gave out a soft exhale as he answered the brunette, "Yes… That night, we did something that was uncalled for."

Eren stared at the older man facing him from afar. The captain was leaning against his desk with arms crossed as he stared at the ground speculating the sheening waxed flooring of the room. Watching the older man, the subordinate clenched both fists at his side as he tilted his chin up letting his green eyes bore into Erwin.

"No you don't, Captain," the ex-shifter spoke defiantly with confidence.

Erwin looked up at the statement with a hint of surprise in his twinkling blue eyes, but did not defend himself from the accusation. Eren took the silent stare from the blonde as a sign to continue.

"And I won't let you."

"Why?" Erwin asked suddenly, his face expressionless; although Eren knew that inside the older man was perhaps in more turmoil than what was being expressed. However, Eren wasn't going to lie to the Captain.

"Because I don't want you to, sir," the brunette simply stated as if the rhetorical answer would suffice the older man.

The Captain pushed himself away from his desk and approached the brunette slowly, his heels clicking against the wooden floor.

"Eren, I want to know what happened," Erwin demanded trying not to sound too forceful as he came to stand a few feet in front of Eren.

The brunette could feel his blood pressure rising, but he knew that this time the door was open and he wasn't even literally in the room. If the ex-shifter needed to, he could bolt out of the place in seconds so as to avoid the Captain's questions, Eren reassured himself calmly. However, Eren's body was already in a state of panick over over the all too familiar situatioin. But this time, Erwin wasn't drunk and Eren knew that the Captain had no intentions of preying on him.

"Corporal Levi speculated that I couldn't have been in your room until just that afternoon," Eren spoke leading the conversation elsewhere.

They both knew that 'that afternoon' referred to the day following the night of the Legion party.

Erwin sighed, "I didn't tell him anything, Eren."

"And I'm glad you didn't."

"I'm guessing he came to talk to you since you hadn't been at training? I apologize… I should have told him something so he could pardon you from your absence."

"It's alright. We both were really confused that morning."

"Eren."

"Yes, Captain?"

"Please, stop avoiding it."

Eren's heart nearly skipped a beat. The brunette could almost sense a slight notion of annoyance from Erwin's baritone, although he knew that the blonde was most likely trying to avoid it being revealed. The brunette glanced at the older man slowly taking in his appearance from head to toe careful as to make sure the blonde wasn't angered.

"Can't we just pretend it never happened, sir?"

"Pretend what never happened?"

The subordinate leaned back slightly at the sudden counter question. Erwin's brows knitted together as his lips formed a thin line. He could see the slight fear reflected in Eren's eyes, but the older man could barefly hold back the frustration now seeping out of his voice.

"Eren…" the blonde took a breath trying to calm himself, "How could I 'pretend it never happened' when I don't even know what it is that occurred? How could I forget what I can't even remember?"

Eren stared at his Captain fully aware of what the older man was trying to establish, "I'm a full grown man, Eren. I have had my experiences and although I am sure you are educated I feel that we may have done something that you were not prepared for. I am not asking you for details pertaining to the situation because I am simply curious of what had happened that night. I am asking you this because I am personally concerned for your well-being."

Erwin had without warning strode forward and placed both of his hands firmly on the brunette's shoulders, the blonde's face a few mere inches from Eren's own. The captain's eyes were wide open searching the brunette's own green orbs for an answer. Eren could feel his heart drumming against his rib cage, his neck throbbing with unsaid fears. However, even with his body in a state of panic, Eren gave a shaking swallow and tilted his head down so as to make Erwin lean backwards away from him slightly.

"I…" started Eren who was barely able to whisper out an audible response as he tried to withhold the dread building up in his body that irked him to slap the older man's hands away.

The brunette did his best to calmly placed both his shaking hands atop of Erwin's in order to slide the blonde's elongated fingers down away from his shoulders. The older man could feel the subordinate's fingers trembling as Eren gently placed Erwin's hands back at both of the taller man's sides. However, the Captain didn't say anything over Eren's decline of physical contact.

The brunette bit his bottom lip in thought as he let his eyes wander to the ground. He knew he didn't have to tell Erwin anything. He knew he could keep avoiding it, even though deep inside the subordinate was aware that his rejection in spilling the details to the older man could possibly hurt Erwin at the moment. It could definitely also put a dent in the trust that he and his Captain had built over a span of ten years. However, the price of simply not telling Erwin and having him hurt at the moment over the cost of making Erwin completely shatter upon realization of what he had done was most definitely worth it in the end, Eren concluded to himself. Even though things would be a bit awkward for a while here on out, the brunette was sure that the older man would eventually let things slide with the passing of time. The two would forget the event and simply carry on with life without even acknowledging the muddled activity that had occured between them.

As Eren stood there in contemplation, the Captain's face became an empty slate as he looked down at the brunette. Eren was aware that the older man was doing his best to not show any sign of emotion. However, even though the Captain did not try to coax the brunette into continuing the subordinate knew that Erwin was most definitely wanted an answer. And the brunette was also sure that Erwin was waiting for him still to finish the sentence that he had started. The subordinate tried to take in a breath to calm his nerves, but his inhale ended up being a trembling gasp to both of their surprise.

"I can't, Captain."

The brunette stood in front of Erwin with his face flushed and tears forming at the corner of his eyes from the sudden pressuring atmosphere that had built up between them. Erwin stepped back slightly as he realized that he had mentally pushed the younger man into a corner that Eren didn't want to be in. With lips pressed against each other, Eren did his best to hold back the wetness threatening to spill over although he could already tell that his now blurring vision was most definitely failing him. The blonde could see the inner turmoil bubbling in the younger man and knew that this was about as much as he could get from the younger man tonight. With brows pushing against each other, Erwin let out a weak sigh.

"Eren... I want to know. But if you're not ready then it's okay," the blonde spoke softly to the younger man as the Captain's right hand brushed lightly against Eren's cheek slightly.

The brunette immediately stiffened from the gesture although he knew Erwin wasn't going to do anything to him. Realizing that his body was alarmingly disgusted by the situation, Eren felt anger suddenly boiling within his stomach. He hated himself for being afraid of Erwin. He hated himself for not being able to avoid the fact that- yes. He could no longer see Erwin the same way anymore no matter how hard he tried. Even though Eren had told himself that he would keep that untarnished image of the Captain within his memories and would honor it even after what had transpired between them, the brunette could no longer deny it. The Captain that Eren had kept at heart had changed. Although every single honorable and kind thing Erwin had done in the past was still there in the ex-shifter's memory, the fact that the older man had had the audacity to do what he had done that night had altered the world to Eren.

Suddenly regret began pooling at the bottom of the ex-shifter's dry throat.

Erwin had been drunk- yes. But it had still been Erwin that had kissed him. It had still been Erwin that had pushed him down onto the floor and had ventured into parts of the brunette that were uknown to even Eren himself. Completely lost in the heavy thoughts plummeting his brain, without even realizing Eren heard a voice shout out from the back of his consciousness echoing.

Why hadn't Levi killed him as promised to the court when the war had ended?

'Then this wouldn't have happened...,' concluded the brunette internally as he shut his eyes tightly causing for the tears that had been building up to spill over his cheeks and trickle down to his chin.

Erwin stood there watching the brunette's jaw clench tightly without a word as Eren began to sob quietly. The Captain had saw Eren tremble under his hands and flinch at his touch. Erwin could tell that the younger man was holding back the urge to just simply swat his hands away. It hurt the blonde; the sudden denial of closeness that Eren had been fine with before. And it foretold to the older man that perhaps their future of comrade-ship could no longer be possible. Perhaps their friendship, that Erwin had thought would continue on even after the years of titan, could no longer exist. Perhaps, this was the end to Erwin and Eren's relationship beyond the military. Perhaps...

Perhaps this was what Erwin deserved for being so irresponsible.

As the Captain waited for Eren to calm down, the sudden question that had surfaced in the brunette's thoughts began blossoming within the subordinate. Levi had indeed promised to put him down, hadn't he? But Humanity's Strongest had never even gave him a scratch once the final battle had been won. Why hadn't he noticed before? Now looking back, the final conclusion to his life had completely taken a one eighty. Eren was still alive even though he had indeed had the thought that his life would end at the end of Humanity's war against the titans. And even though it had occurred to him that he had escaped death's doorstep, he had never had the thought to ask the two older men why they had helped spare his life. Was it because Erwin and Levi felt indebted to Eren because he had helped them save Humanity? So this was their payment to him? By giving him a chance to live beyond the years of war?

Although it made sense to some degree, Eren suddenly realized that he couldn't accept it. No... He didn't want to accept it.

The investment that the two men had put into him had been an almost empty one. Eren had failed them on so many missions- had killed so many soldier unnecessarily that the brunette could no longer defend himself from being called a monster. And although some part of the brunette was angered by the title that he had achieved, another part of him agreed that it most definitely suited him.

In all honesty though, the ex-shifter felt that he was the one who still owed the two men. He was the one that still needed to pay them back for what they had done for him. Why couldn't they see that? Why couldn't they understand that there was no reason to invest in the brunette any further when he didn't deserve it? Eren took in a deep breath calming his nerves as he pulled a hand up to wipe away at the tears that had stained his cheeks.

Even if Eren's determination was dented by the cost of his actions, he was not going to give up on this resolve in protecting the two older men; even if Erwin and the Corporal rejected his resolution.

"Hey," echoed a voice from behind the brunette suddenly knocking Eren out of his trance.


End file.
